Whole Systems Design vs Permaculture: are they the same?

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What Is Whole Systems Design And Is It Synonymous With Permaculture?

Video transcript:

OK, let's talk about whole systems design. It starts with yourself. What do you need on a daily basis? What do you take? And then, of course, what do you give on a daily basis? What are your yields and what do you leave behind? Now, remember, unused yield is waste and waste is a design flaw that whole systems approach can solve. So that's why we look at a whole system designed permaculture is not just about gardening, because if we make permaculture only about gardening, we miss an opportunity to become inhabitants in a functional whole system. So the problem is humans always take more than we give as we know, and we produce waste that's toxic to the whole system. So the solution is to find systemic opportunities to meet needs with resources. By putting our waste into play. And then it becomes a resource.

Permaculture is basically just a fancy way to say whole systems design. They are very much similar, very much synonyms for the same process. The permaculture ethics of people care, earth care, and that pesky third ethics. We'll get to in a minute are aligned with what we talked about in the last slide. What we take. What we leave. And how far we're willing to go to make sure that those things are balanced. The combination of these three things create opportunities for us to confront systemic problems with systemic change in the center of all of these ethics is you. And we will talk more about the third ethic next time in our next little video. So, again, here you are. It starts with yourself. Basic needs that you have. You need to eat, you need to sleep, you need to bathe, you need to poop. This is just a quick overview and a not all inclusive system.

The garden. We start with the garden because that's what really brings most people into a permaculture or whole systems design practice. And from the garden, we get stuff that we can eat. From the garden, we get enjoyment and relaxation. We get creative expression. There's lots of other things that we need and there's lots of other things that we take. So as we live, we interact with all of these different systems, and the more we can design that system to be intentionally ecological and to intentionally limit and or eliminate waste, the more sustainable. And theoretically happy we can become. The thing is, nobody lives in a bubble. So if you're only focused on garden design, you are not going to be able to accomplish permaculture, whole system experience.

Elements, plus components, plus placement, plus the willingness to change is what makes the whole system designed. So you can have a bunch of random elements. You can have a solar shower in a garden and a bunch of other stuff going on. But if you're not pulling those things into relationship with each other, then you're not doing a permaculture. And so once again, whole systems design is an opportunity for us to pull ourselves, all of our needs, and all of our resources into relationship with the natural environment and to allow the garden to be so much more than a garden.

The garden then becomes a hub of creativity and of community interaction and of personal and collective evolution. OK, so here we are with our pie chart. And I just sketch this off to further illustrate my point. So whole systems design. Half of it is trial and error, just not being afraid to make mistakes. Understanding the mistakes are tools for learning. And just continuing to try to pull the whole system into play. And then the other half is a mix of creating a design that focuses on the relationships between every component rather than the components themselves, being aware of what you waste and making plans to decrease it. And coming into right relationship and being thoroughly honest about all of the resources that you consume. Alrighty. Good luck. See you next time.