The importance of creating a sustainable and just community through practices such as consensus decision-making and resource sharing.
Ethics: The three ethics of permaculture, i.e., earth care, people care, and fair share, are foundational to the practice and understanding of social permaculture.
Systems thinking: This topic involves analyzing and understanding the interconnections between different elements in a system and identifying leverage points to effect change.
Design: Design is a key element of permaculture, and in social permaculture, designing for social systems is essential.
Patterns: Patterns are repeated forms found in nature and human society. Understanding patterns helps in designing sustainable systems.
Mapping: Mapping can help identify resources, assets, and challenges in social systems, leading to more effective designs.
Community building: Community building involves creating connections, sharing resources, and embracing diversity.
Communication: Effective communication is crucial in social permaculture for building relationships and creating change.
Power dynamics: Understanding power dynamics, i.e., who has power and privilege within social systems, is crucial for creating more equitable, just, and sustainable communities.
Decision making: Collaborative decision-making processes, such as consensus-building, are integral to permaculture and social permaculture.
Conflict resolution: Conflict is inevitable in social systems, and being able to navigate and resolve conflicts is a critical skill in building resilient communities.
Leadership: Leadership involves empowering others, balancing power dynamics, and creating a shared vision for social systems.
Resilience: Building resilience in social systems means designing for adaptability, diversity, and redundancy.
Regenerative cultures: Regenerative cultures seek to restore a sense of connection to the earth and build sustainable systems that nourish people and the planet.
Decolonization: Decolonization involves recognizing and undoing the effects of colonialism on social systems, including systemic oppression and marginalization.
Social justice: Social justice involves promoting fairness, equality, and human rights in social systems.
Permaculture applications: Permaculture principles can be applied to many different areas, including agriculture, eco-villages, urban design, and education.
Spirituality: Some practitioners of permaculture incorporate spirituality or contemplative practices into their work.
Cultural appreciation: Cultural appreciation involves recognizing and valuing diverse cultural perspectives and practices within social systems.
Economics: Permaculture includes alternative economic models that prioritize sustainability, equity, and social justice.
Education: Education is seen as a key element in creating more sustainable and just social systems through permaculture principles.
Community Building: This involves creating social connections between different people, groups or communities. It uses tools like circle processes, open space technology, world cafe and council.
Collaborative Governance: It promotes effective decision making and problem solving that involves everyone in the community. Collaborative Governance is an essential element of successful social permaculture projects.
Local Economic Development: This focuses on sustainable and locally-based economic development that is rooted in a community's natural resources and cultural heritage.
Social Justice: This is the practice of promoting equal opportunities for all people regardless of their social, racial, or economic status. It also encompasses creating awareness, support and action for those who are marginalized, oppressed or discriminated against.
Regenerative Education: It is an inclusive and holistic approach to education that uses nature-based learning to cultivate creative and critical thinking skills.
Cultural Empowerment: This focuses on the revival and preservation of traditional cultures, knowledge and practices.
Land Stewardship: This refers to the care and management of land and natural resources, in a way that maintains and enhances the ecological and social health of the place.
Peace Building: It involves supporting peaceful resolution of conflicts, and creating non-violent solutions for social or environmental issues.
Health and well-being: This refers to creating supportive and empowering environments, and a culture of care that promotes physical, mental and emotional health for individuals and communities.
Ecological Citizenship: This approach promotes citizens' engagement in ecological issues, including conservation, regeneration, and community-based natural resource management.