Central to our project is the cultivation of sustainable ethics, practices, skills and relationships, inspired by Permaculture design principles.
The permaculture ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share are guiding principles. Earth Care means caring for the earth as a living breathing entity, People Care means maximizing quality of life for everyone, and Fair Share means recognizing that we live in times of abundance, enabling us to share with others and redistribute wealth by giving away excess.
Amenawon Solar School enacts a Permaculture approach through an urban lens, adapting it to the urban environment.
PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLES:
• Achieve the largest good with the least amount of labor
• Respect personal and cultural differences
• Analyze inputs and outputs
• Transform waste into a resource
• The problem can be the solution
• Everything is connected to everything else
PERMACULTURE ETHICS:
“The prime directive of Permaculture is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Cooperation, not competition is the very basis of future survival for existing life systems.” – Penny Livingston- Stark Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden, Bolinas, CA
Care of the Earth:
The Earth is a living, breathing entity. Without ongoing care and nurturing there will be consequences too big to ignore.
Care of People:
If people’s needs are met in compassionate and simple ways, the environment surrounding them will prosper.
Give Away Surplus:
We are provided with times of abundance which enables us to share with others.
“Implicit in the above is the “Life Ethic”:
All living organisms are not only means, but ends. In addition to their instrumental value to humans and other living organisms, they have an intrinsic worth.” – Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture