Permaculture

Permaculture is a term coined by Bill Mollison an Australian sustainable farming advocate who later facilitated a global social movement of eco-activists focused on the dissemination of permaculture concepts.

He published a book called Permaculture.

It is important to note that as we consider the re-integration of the human reality with the natural world that many people are working on similar concepts with different names and terms. With the case of permaculture what we are talking about is the creation of a "permanent culture" of ecological mindfulness and stewardship that is part of a Holistic Approach to understanding and managing systems. Key to this is the realization that agricultural considerations are just part of the process of creating this permanent culture.

Key aspects of permaculture might include:

• 1. Sustainable Agriculture Production

  2. Aesthetics

  3. Interface with nature and built environment

  4. Effective Water Recycling and Management

  5. Animal and Pest Management

  6. Waste Recycling

  7. Education

In the case of Arcosanti, we see that there is a particular environment or set of environments at play. While it can be divided in several ways. The primary classification that includes the entire 860 acre property is semi desert steppe. We are several miles north of the Sonoran Desert but this includes not only distance but our elevation as well which is in the range of about 3400 feet at the Aqua Fria River Valley and 3700 at the top of the Mesa where Arcosanti is located.

Secondary to the High (semi) Desert Steppe classification is the local classification which includes the more barren steppe (that includes the mesa where Arcosanti is located) which includes things like cactus such as the ubiquitous pricky pear, desert bushes/brush like cat's claw and short grasses. This area which is the vast majority of our area is contrasted with the lush Riparian Zone of the Aqua Fria where cottonwoods, mesquite groves.

Finally we have or could consider several different regions within our property that refer to different uses of the area and also differing characteristics:

• 1. Mesa/Arcosanti

  2. Camp/Agriculture/Aqua Fria

  3. Intermediate Zone between Camp and Arcosanti

  4. Ranch/Aqua Fria

  5. Lake Vayetta Valley

  6. Aqua Fria Bottom Land

  7. Outlying Steppe Area

Permaculture might consider the above as a Background Profile from which to measure a area of study for which possible permaculture practices should be implemented. From these a recommendation plan could be developed that considers current and past uses while also measuring area attributes and assets so that optimum use for each region can be considered. We also would/could look at how each region relates to the whole project so as to develop synergy towards a more holistic approach to development.