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Wellbeing Farm, A Pragmatic Approach to Permaculture, Transition, and Reskilling

Andrew Willner

http://www.andrewwillner.com/

Preserving the Past to Serve the Future

Fourth in a Series

After leaving the Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub Waterways Reskilling gathering

held on November 23, 2013 I realized that the practitioners who attended and

spoke – the Transitioners and Permaculturists, the farmers, millwrights, boat

builders, fishermen, engineers, woodworkers, and sail freighters require a

community, a physical location, a place to have re-skilling workshops, to teach

classes,to hold gatherings, to take on apprentices, and to build real world

solutions for the coming post carbon, Slow Tech era.

Slow Technology or “Slow Tech” has its roots in the ideological movement

called “appropriate technology,” a term coined by E.F. Schumacher in his

book Small is Beautiful, first published in 1973. Slow Tech should be thoughtful

about how devices shape our relationships to time, emotion, energy, and

bioregional environment.

A Vision for Wellbeing Farm

This concept is called Wellbeing Farm because wellbeing is the state of being

happy, healthy, or prosperous. It will be a physical place where Permaculture, an

approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that reflect

the natural world – and Transition where these principles are applied to the dual

challenges of climate change and peak oil come together to address themes of

energy production, health and wellness, education, economics, and food

production and distribution at the community and local level.

Wellbeing Farm will give a physical presence to moving beyond ‘environmental’,

’sustainable’, ‘eco’ this or that. The work is about transitioning to where we want

to get to,how do we do it, what we would like it to be and look like when we

arrive – while giving people the tools to create more sustainable ways of living in

community. It is also about how to design this transition in such a way that

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people will embrace it as a collective adventure, as a common journey, and as

something positive – to design fossil fuel descent pathways which make people

feel alive, positive and included in the process of societal transformation.

Wellbeing farm will be a center for Permaculture, the crafts of Transition, and for

re-skilling for a post carbon world, where demonstrations of the efficacy of

producing local food and power can take place, and a place that can provide

opportunities for practitioners to have the time and space to develop specific

implementable ideas for a world in transition from extraction and growth to a

steady state economy.

Four complementary directions for Wellbeing Farm

1. That it be replicable, scalable and accommodate different bioregions

2. That it is a location for the Mid-Atlantic version of Maine’s Common Ground

Country Fair

3. That it is a “school” along the lines of, Ralph Borsodi's School of Living

http://www.schoolofliving.org/history.htm, The Arrowmont School of Arts

and Crafts, The Pfeiffer Center, Snow Farm, The New England Craft

Program, Whatcom Folk School, Peters Valley Craft Center, North House

Folk School, Kinstone Academy of Applied Permaculture, Adirondack Folk

School, The WoodenBoat School, and thePenland School of Crafts.

4. And that it will be the location of a Bioregional Traditional Knowledge

Database – an opportunity to collect, in one place, electronic sites, books,

drawings, stories, and especially documented experiences with colleagues

with traditional skills. Perhaps this “library” can be the beginning of a that

will gather and protect historical knowledge and promote innovative

practices based on traditional skills.

Wellbeing Farm Mission

The mission of Wellbeing Farm is to provide the means to survive the decades

ahead as individuals, communities, and bioregions; to determine pragmatic

implementable methods of transitioning away from the use of fossil fuels, and to

do this as peacefully, equitably, and intelligently as possible. We will help to

create ethical lifestyle changes, teach appropriate technologies that provide

benefits rather than cause harm, foster self-reliance, and promote Slow

technology through hands-on practice for students, professional practitioners

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from rural, suburban, and urban areas. We will do so by taking lessons from

nature, through care and love of the environment, by developing the skills

necessary in all areas of life, and by incorporating the values of care of the earth,

care of people, ethical sharing of any surplus, and by teaching that actions have

consequences, and that we have responsibilities for ourselves and others.

The Power of Just Doing Stuff

Wellbeing farm will be a center for teaching the skills and re-skilling needed in a

post carbon world. Wellbeing Farm will house Permaculture demonstration

projects; alternative energy and water conservation pilot projects; and

educational facilities built to a

high energy efficiency standard while providing beautiful, peaceful, productive

spaces where students, scholars and practitioners can meet perhaps live, and

study.

Every community in the United States will have engaged its collective creativity

to unleash an extraordinary and historic transition to a future beyond fossil fuels;

a future that is more vibrant, abundant and resilient; one that is ultimately

preferable to the present.

Wellbeing Farm will be a physical place where demonstrations of the

efficacy of producing local food and power can take place.

Wellbeing Farm will be a place that can provide opportunities for

practitioners to have the time and space to develop specific implementable

ideas for a change from resource extraction and growth for growth’s sake to

a steady state sustainable economy.

Wellbeing Farm will be a place with workshops for preserving the past to

serve the

future with wood fired ceramics, practical and decorative iron forging and

bronze casting; traditional rope making (from locally grown natural fibers);

stone and thatch work; woodworking for building furniture, “passive”

buildings, wind and water mills, and “short sea” hybrid sailing freight vessels;

leather working for tack for working horses; beer, cider, and spirit distilling

for food preservation and medicines; sustainable artisanal fishing; and an

incubator for low carbon transportation, communications, and commerce.

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Wellbeing Farm will provide educational opportunities and creative,

implementable, real world solutions to the environmental, economic, and

social crises we are likely to face in the near and mid-term future.

Wellbeing Farm will be one tool that will enable people to work locally to

transition our communities and bioregions away from a fossil fuel-based

economy to a “restorative economy,” an economy dedicated to core values

of human and environmental health and safety, cultural and biological

diversity, care for commonly held resources, and cooperative nonviolence.

A restorative economy is human-scaled. It embraces alternative locally

based energy, is less extractive and less violent.

Wellbeing Farm is about how to compose this Transition in such a way that

people will embrace it as a collective adventure, as a common journey, as

something positive, and how communities can feel alive, positive and

included in this process of societal transformation. Paraphrasing the title

of Rob Hopkins’ new book, Wellbeing Farm will be the embodiment of

the Power of Just Doing Stuff.

Permaculture is about designing ecological human habitats and food production

systems. It is a land use and community building movement which strives for the

harmonious integration of human dwellings, microclimate, annual and perennial

plants, animals, soils, and water into stable, productive communities. The focus is

not on these elements themselves, but rather on the relationships created among

them by the way we placethem in the landscape. This synergy is further enhanced

by mimicking patterns found in nature.

The core tenets of Permaculture are:

• Take Care of the Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply.

This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot

flourish.

• Take Care of the People:Provision for people to access those resources

necessary for their existence.

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• Share the Surplus: Healthy natural systems use outputs from each element to

nourish others. We humans can do the same. By governing our own needs, we

can set resources aside to further the above principles.

Permaculture at Wellbeing Farm entails much more than just food production.

Energy-efficient buildings, waste water treatment, recycling, and land

stewardship in general are other important components of Permaculture. At

Wellbeing Farm Permaculture will include research into and realization of

economic and social structures that support the evolution and development of

more permanent communities, such as co-housing projects and eco-villages

We live at a fascinating point in history. The convergence of challenges, most

particularly global warming and peak oil, have brought us to a point where we are

profoundly challenged to act. We are surrounded by “experts” telling us that this

means the end – that we have gone too far, that it is inevitable that life as we

know it will collapse catastrophically and very soon. Yet, at the same time,

something very powerful is stirring and is taking root the world over. People are

choosing life and are manifesting that in their lives and their communities. People

are starting to see “peak everything” f as the Great Opportunity, the chance to

build the world they always dreamed of.

The Transition Movement represents one of the most promising models available

to us for engaging people and communities, to achieve the far-reaching actions

required to mitigate the effects of peak oil, climate change and the economic

crisis. Furthermore, re-localization efforts are designed to result in a life that is

more fulfilling, more socially connected and more equitable than the one we live

today.

Underpinning the model is recognition of the following: peak oil, climate

change and theeconomic crisis require urgent action; a world with less oil is

inevitable so adaptation now is essential; it is better to plan and be prepared,

than be taken by surprise; industrial society has lost the resilience to cope with

shocks to its systems so we must act together now using all of our skill, ingenuity

and intelligence, our home-grown creativity and cooperation, we can unleash the

collective genius within our communities, leading directly to a more abundant,

connected and healthier future for all.

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In the United States, Transition US is a resource and catalyst for building resilient

communities across the United States, and The Mid-Atlantic Transition

Hub(MATH) envisions an environmentally sustainable, integrated and resilient

Mid-Atlantic Region comprising seven states along the US Eastern seaboard, a

corridor characterized by a chain of closely adjacent major metropolitan areas. Its

mission is to support, promote and foster the interconnectedness of emergent

Transition initiatives in all stages of development in the Mid- Atlantic Region.

Wellbeing Farm will be Replicable, Scalable, and Bioregional

The physical location, the size, scope of programs, and services will be dependent

upon the needs of practitioners in the bioregion in which the “Farm” is located.

For the purposes of this posting, Wellbeing Farm is centrally located on several

acres in the Mid-Atlantic States of the US. It could be at one location or at

different locations depending onavailability of facilities, land, and the needs of the

community. It should be located near public transportation, near or on the water,

and in a community where some of these activities are already taking place. It is

possible that it could be co-located at one of the Craft Centers described earlier or

at established institutions like the Garrison Institute, Omega Institute in New

York, or Duke Farms in New Jersey. Wellbeing farm could also be co-located with

an existing or planned Eco-Village, or Cohousing community.

Common Ground Fair Mid-Atlantic:

If you’ve ever been to the Fair, you know — and if you haven’t been, anyone who

has will tell you — it’s an event like no other, that brings together so many people

from so many walks of life, all in the spirit of celebrating the rural and agricultural

traditions of Maine.

Working with the North East Organic Farmers Associations (NOFA) in the Mid-

Atlantic, Wellbeing Farm will provide the space for, and organization for an

annual Country Fair. This fair will bring together a large gathering of farmers,

change agents, artisans, Slow Money social entrepreneurs, Permaculturists,

Transitioners, Eco-Villagers, Organic farmers, fishermen, seed companies, natural

food stores, chefs and many thousands of families across Mid-Atlantic region who

are creating a new approach to the future.

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Wellbeing Farm Programs

The “School”

As we contemplate and support changes in our food system and our systems of

land ownership and use, and as we return to a system which both supports and

benefits from organic and locally grown food and manufactured goods, we need

to be aware of trade, agricultural land use policies, human rights and suffering

throughout the world Wellbeing Farm will provide teaching and learning

opportunities.

Facilities will be developed in which intimate conferences can be accommodated,

and where Permaculture certification, alternative energy, water conservation,

organic and biodynamic farming, and “deep” Transition classes can be taught.

The attendees would be able to avail themselves to the ongoing Permaculture,

alternative energy, hunter-gatherer skills, natural building, and water

conservation projects taking place at the Farm in a “hands-on” way.

Most importantly Wellbeing farm can provide a quiet, bucolic, and beautiful

landscape in which to think and write – to experience the relationship between

humans, animals, and the natural world, and to learn how to take the experience

away with them. Instructors and mentors can be drawn from a variety of

disciplines and experiences.

Barn and home builders will have a place to construct full sized buildings

and teach people how to do post and beam, cob, cordwood, stone work,

thatching, using recycled shipping containers, and other green building

techniques.

Farmers and foresters who work with horses, will have place to learn about

veterinary care, harness making and repair, modifying tractor drawn

machinery for horses, manufacture, or where to purchase new

Millwrights will have a place to build and learn to repair water and wind

mills

Sail freighters will have a place to build or rebuild small sail freight boats

with traditional tools, and learn rigging, and seamanship.

Wild foragers will have a place to teach and learn what we can glean from

the fields and forest.

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Boyers (bow makers), will have a place where materials and tools are

available

Furniture makers will have a source of wood, a sawmill, drying sheds, and

work shops

Weavers will have a source of wool, a place to clean, spin, and dye

Potters, will have clay, wheels, and kilns

And farmers will have a place to socialize, and learn skills from one another

Courses could include but not be limited to:

Crafts and Folk Art

Basketry

Blacksmithing and tool making

Boatbuilding

Clothing and ornament

Fiber and Fleece workshops

Food preparation and preservation

“waste” management

Entertainment/music and storytelling

Outdoor skills

Cruelty free animal husbandry, Animal Welfare Approved,”“Certified

Humane,” “American Grass-fed,” and “Food Alliance Certified

Working with draft animals

Low impact forestry

Herbs, Health, and healing

Energy and Shelter

Sustainable living

Timber framing

Project management

Woodworking and furniture

Permaculture design courses and demonstration projects

Composting and recycling

Organic, biodynamic, and urban agriculture

Stone working

Starting a farm based business

Maple syrup and sugars

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Beer, cider making, and distilling

Social and political action

Alternative energy and water conservation pilot projects

Wellbeing Farm will also help us reach another goal, educational opportunities for

young people using Permaculture. Permaculture as a design system is rooted in

an understanding of ecological principles. Therefore in considering how we can

design an effective, inclusive and sustainable learning community, it is useful to

consider how humans gain an understanding of ecological principles from an early

age. How do children move from a sensory awareness of the natural world to a

more conceptual understanding of natural cycles, energy flow and

interconnectedness? How do we ensure that our children have the best possible

start to understanding the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’ of our Permaculture ways in a

way that transcends the limitations of school? Permaculture for children’s

learning experience could include the following:

Increasing the understanding of basic ecological principles by making the

‘abstract’ more ‘concrete’ through kinesthetic activities

Making it happen outside in a place where natural processes can be easily

observed

Emphasizing that we are part of the natural world

Engaging the emotions, senses and intellect

Including time for contemplation, community and creativity by focusing on

developing comprehension of ecological principles as a precursor to a later

understanding of frameworks such as Mollison and Holmgren’s Design

Principles.

In order to instill Wellbeing Farm with this spirit of community of place,

regeneration, and resilience, Wellbeing Farm will also include short and long term

residencies for adults involved in Transition, Permaculture, and Re-Skilling. These

residents will be experienced practitioners, that will form both the heart of the

“faculty” and a community, one that will provide an example of ways to transition

our communities away from a fossil fuel-based economy to a “restorative

economy,” an economy dedicated to core values of human and environmental

health and safety, cultural and biological diversity, care for commonly held

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resources, and cooperative nonviolence. A restorative human-scaled economy

utilizes alternative locally based energy, is less extractive and less violent.

“Spirit of place symbolizes the living ecological relationship between a particular

location and the persons who have derived from it and added to it the various

aspects of their humanness. The reason we are now desecrating nature is not

because we use it to our ends, but because we commonly manipulate it without

respect for the spirit of place.” – Rene Dubos .

Place is intimate, personal, filled with meaning and potential. Place arises from

the richconnections among the earth, local nature and spirit. Regeneration is the

process of building local capacity for sustainability that endures. Regenerative

development captures the unique rhythm and spirit of a place, partnering people

and their place to create enduring value for all life. It helps people truly

experience Place, growing the caring required to make sustainability

real. Resilience is the capability to anticipate risk, limit impact, and bounce back

rapidly through survival, adaptability, evolution, and growth in the face of

turbulent change. Resilience refers to the ability of a system to hold together and

maintain its ability to function in the face of change and shocks from the outside.

Resilient communities possess the ability to withstand external shocks and can

come back quickly from sudden environmental or economic changes. As

Permaculture practitioners we place resilience at the heart of any plan.

Bioregional Traditional Knowledge Database

”Today, traditional knowledge is in danger and its disappearance would not only

cause the loss of people’s capability to keep and pass on the artistic and natural

heritage, but also of an extraordinary source of knowledge and cultural diversity

from which the appropriate innovation solutions can be derived today and in the

future.”

This bioregional data base will learn from and interface with the recently

launched “International Traditional Knowledge Institute” (ITKI) l is an ambitious

effort to preserve, restore and promote the re-use of traditional skills and

inventions from all overthe world. It includes an online encyclopedia of low-tech

know-how.

The physical and electronic data base will include a library where books,

blueprints, photographs, and drawings, of how things were made, and how we

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fed ourselves in a pre-carbon world will enable us to preserve the past to serve

the future. This could include resources like theWhole Earth Catalog, books

published by Shelter Publications, the Fox Fire books, mechanical engineering

texts, trade encyclopedias, and downloaded and printed reproductions like Small

Hydropower Systems, home built windpower, and books and resources

for Medieval Technology.

Why Wellbeing Farm Now?

We live at a fascinating point in history. The convergence of challenges, most

particularly global warming and peak oil, have brought us to a point where we are

profoundly challenged to act. We are surrounded by “experts” telling us that this

means the end, that we have gone too far, that it is inevitable that life as we know

it will collapse catastrophically and very soon. Yet, at the same time, something

very powerful is stirring and is taking root the world over. People are choosing life

and are manifesting that in their lives and their communities.

The scale of the challenge is huge, and the obstacles are plenty, but there is an

emerging energy to succeed, a sense of exhilaration in talking and listening to

each other once again, to visioning what we want and then rolling up our sleeves

and starting to co-create it. This is not a denial of the scale of the challenges we

face, rather a practical and instinctual response to it. In towns and cities all over

the world people are asking each other “what can we do about this?”

In a world of diminishing resources and increasing stresses on natural and social

systems we must rapidly implement strategies to restore degraded landscapes,

shelter and feed displaced and hungry people, and convert our energy-wasteful

infrastructure to holistic and ecological systems that meet their own needs and

the needs of those who manage them.

Wellbeing Farm lays the foundation for understanding the workings of natural

systems and for designing human environments that produce food, shelter, and

energy. It also provides participants with models of community development and

extension by which they can create networks of support for themselves and

empower others to do the same.

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Resources:

John Leeks Historic Home Works

Bob Yapp’s Belvedere School

The Preservation Education Institute

College of the Redwoods

Savannah College of Art & Design

American College of the Building Arts

North Bennet Street School

Traditional Trades Network

Museum of Early Trades and Crafts

Pine Mountain Settlement School