e. People

< Guille (Spain), David (Switzerland) & Antoine (Belgium) on Antoine's leaving day.

The Action-Learning studentsare a main input on the farm: as much as we can we create the environment where they can really take ownership of the site and design from scratch and through the whole cycle: observation > design > implementation > evaluation, whilst picking up basic practical farm-management skills AND group-work skills (the most important part).

The whole project has effectively been a ‘rolling permaculture’ design dreamt up and executed by very many people.

I started off offering the old (rented) Finca as an action-learning ‘playground’ in 2001, starting with wwoofing (people working in exchange for food and accomodation) and slowly changing to everyone contributing equally.

We first had people coming and going at any time, but more recently (2005) decided to only take on people as groups and at at particular dates.

This enables a more definite ‘community experience’ (as a group changes every time a new person comes or goes) but also makes it possible to offer a full yearly PDC at the start of this 3 or 5 month group design experience.

Challenging and very fruitful in terms of learning, for everyone, but we realized there is only so far we could take this with temporary groups, so ended the yearly Action Learning Programme in 2010 in favor of putting our energies into finding a permanent team and at the same time developing a more in-depth and different kinds of Action Learning opportunities, built around the wonderful PDC+++ Course.

Womens Support Group

This section is dedicated to the women permaculture pioneers I admire, both deceased and alive and kicking.

These are the women whose work and memory I will do my best to honor and keep alive with my life and work:

Dana Meadows (1941-2001) and Emilia Hazelip (1938-2003), both organic farmers and brilliant thinkers who gave so much to us all and died far too soon,

to my best friend from school Lucia Vittorini (1965 - 2006) who was my first and closest model of social activism, loving friend from 11years old to my forties, a disabled woman of great intelligence and fierce integrity, originality & love for progress, who fought injustice wherever she saw it, and taught me much about friendship,

to Margarita Arnaiz (1961 - 2006) a Basque permaculture pioneer whom I didn't meet personally but know bravely tried to do the work of unifying the permaculture network in Spain many years ago and failed, but made it a lot easier for us to follow in her footsteps later.

Maxine Angus (1962 - 2009) who set up Green Adventure with us, taught me unforgettable lessons about how much about how institutionalized racism & sexism ravage people, who was a beautiful loving friend, amazing person & an ethical beacon in my life, always engaged in small & great ways in a fierce & passionate fight for justice & upholding of human rights.

All of these women were thinking and living ahead of their times - and payed a high price for that.

One of the hardest things to deal with as a permaculture pioneer woman is the daily toxic rain of sexist opression one has to deal with, coming from all angles, many heavy showers of it, made up of thousands of drops of disrespect, dehumanizing attitudes, belittling, patronizing assumptions ... including occasional bucket-fulls that pile up and take great amounts of energy to weather.

The mycelium of friendship and in particular the soil and roots of the caring support, laughter and understanding of other women pioneers makes it possible to neutralize some of these toxins and even occasionally turn some of that to nutrients! (all opressed groups get unique perspectives of the 'underbelly of the beast', both because and in spite of their under-dog positions, and the occasional flashes of insight this offers can be very exciting because so enlightening)

These below are a few of the very much alive and kicking posse of women (in no particular order) that I have the great privilege to know and share time, laughs and tears with in my life - a celebration!

A deep and grateful thankyou to all of you, you´re ALL life-lines for me!

< Marian is an inspiring friend and permaculture farmer on Tenerife, lone parent of three children and sole manager of a large farm she started to turn to permaculture methods around 2003, before she discovered permaculture. A great experimentor and observer, here proudly showing her ñame growing out of mulch in a very dry area (shaded but no extra water).

< Cristina and Nuria, on Gran Canaria, another part of my vital support-structure: Cris is an ex-student of the Action Learning Programme who became a close friend (on the left, with her baby) and Nuria is also a very funny & wise friend + great business-woman, sole owner and co-ordinator of a very successful permaculture farm. Both are also occasional teachers on our Academy team, Nodo Espiral España.

< here with Anita and Maxine, intimate friends whom I love deeply and very likely saved my life on several occasions, who built Green Adventure with me from 1995 and were crazy enough to (at very short notice) come to meet me 'in between airports' in January 2009 on a rare visit through London on my way to Tasmania from Spain (we hadn´t seen each other in years and I only had only about 4 hours from City Airport to Heathrow to see them, and they showed up, we nattered lots on the train, ate doughnuts and took these silly pics)

(Maxine died in 2009, killed in the battle against racism & sexism she bravely fought all her life)

gorgeous gorgeous people ... :)

... add pix later ...

Martine and Helen were in my permaculture women's support group and Martine in my permaculture diploma support group before that, both very funny, intelligent and kind women who inspire me a lot and I enjoy keeping in touch with.

Other permaculture women whom I draw strength and inspiration from (although I don't know them personally that well and some even at all) are Cari Cruz, Robyn Francis, Rosemary Marrow, Starhawk, Wangari Maathai, Vandana Shiva, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Arundhati Roy ...

and more recently (jan 09) Elaine Ingham and Anna Edey

(these last two I was introduced to on a permaculture course in Tasmania where I got some interesting insights on all this stuff (january Blog entry on the Opression page)