Episode 6: Being Good

Episode 6: Being Good
6/31/08
(Written on the grid)

When it comes to good design, few come close to permaculture. It is difficult to identify many human design strategies from the last century that result in healed landscapes, increased fertility, and enhanced biodiversity.

Since the early days of permaculture in the 1970s, the design theory – often called regenerative design – has evolved to address more than just agricultural applications. Modern permaculture is seen as a philosophy and lifestyle ethic as much as it is a system design tool. Indeed, the design principles are broad enough to apply to many of our cultural systems. When used as a prism for design, permaculture: looks at whole systems; seeks connections between key components; observes how the components relate to one another; and proposes to mend weak systems by applying techniques that have proven effective in healthy, sustainable systems.

Regenerative design, at its best, results in landscapes that are healthier and more productive, and buildings that produce more energy than they consume. What then, would a regenerative education system look like?

Regenerative design principles can be integrated into a comprehensive secondary science and technology education. Instead of producing consumers who expand their ecological footprints with every higher level of education gained, schools can graduate citizens who become active in repairing the damage humanity has done to Earth’s life support systems. Education can be ecologically fecund instead of destructive. The next generation can be trained to have the knowledge, skills and motivation to create abundant cultural systems that increase fertility and biodiversity. It is possible to educate a generation of human beings that will have a healing – regenerative - presence on the planet, but how can schools model this here and now?

Putting regenerative design principles at the heart of the curriculum is a good place to start.