Urban Permaculture

Urban Permaculture Independent Study Fall 2009

ideas for our COLLECTIVE COURSE DESCRIPTION, DUE BEFORE WEDNESDAY DEC 16th: please add ideas, contribute, and edit however you see fit!!

if everybody could contribute a sentence or two, and we can come up with a cohesive-ish whole, that would be amazing.

some questions we might want to consider:

what were our expectations of ourselves?

how did readings and assignments happen?

what topics did we cover?

permaculture design process and principles, indigenous knowledge and appropriation, industrial time, race and class dynamics, eco-ableism, eco-ageism, food systems planning, resilient cities, and eco-capitalism.

Here is a starting point (please edit however you see fit...) This course was a collage, an unfolding evolution. We bit off more than we could chew but kept chewing anyway. Topics we covered included: permaculture design process and principles, indigenous knowledge and appropriation, industrial time, race and class dynamics, eco-ableism, eco-ageism, food systems planning, resilient cities, and eco-capitalism .... Class time was spent discussing the readings that were provided by different people on a volunteer basis, as well as going over homework assignments, which included (bringing discussing questions, design drawings).... Expectations for ourselves and eachother: thoughtful participation, engaged and attentive listening, contributing to discussions, taking initiative for finding readings, posting questions, using hampedia...Our community norms set forth during our first meeting were: check-ins, sobriety, preparedness, constructive honesty and criticism, stepping forward and stepping back, accountability, organization and timeliness, staying on task, using accessible language, hand raising, and having a facilitator each week. Our cumulative project was a zine that covered all aspects of permaculture with contributions on seperate topics from everyone. The material in the zine is also being posted on the website created as a part of one student's final project at stout.hampshire.edu/~krh08/final.html.

 *(initial) Course description

We will be looking at permaculture as a method of sustainable organic agriculture and radical lifestyle, in the context of urban reconstruction and youth community empowerment and activism. When discussing food, it is crucial to think of it in terms of race, class, gender, resources, distribution, education, and farmer, land, animal, and civil rights vs State/Government laws. These focal points, among many more, will be the backbone to our multifaceted discussion on how to utilize urban spaces to empower youth to cooperatively experiment with self and community sustainability in terms of food production, distribution, and health.

*Methods of Studying

Pulling from experience in permaculture technique, youth and urban community involvement, experimental education, and conducting research on existing urban gardens and farms, our resources will be extensive and wide-ranging. We have yet to discuss how we'd like to progress through the course, and if we'd like to have individual or communal research projects. These logistics will all be discussed during our first meeting.

Digital Archive

Edible Forest Gardens

Punk Rock Permaculture E-Zine

Permaculture Activist Articles

Sprouts In The Sidewalk [sidewalksprouts.wordpress.com/tag/urban-farming]

Spiralseed 

AK Press

Links:

http://www.parkingday.org/

check out this cool urban space reclamation idea I just stumbled upon.... "a one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens independently but simultaneously temporarily transform metered parking spots into "PARK(ing)" spaces: temporary public parks."

(I'm not sure where to post links to websites. is this a good place to start??) YES!!!

sweet blog about three women who bike from DC to Montreal and back, exploring "the new face of farms" in both urban and rural settings. this page in particular is a good one w/ lots of examples of urban permaculture:::    http://womensgardencycles.wordpress.com/ethnographies/

NEW ***Awesome writing on ecologically designed learning, Tumbell, i think of you (its written by one of my pdc facilitators so its extra special) http://www.livingschools.com.au/pdf/facilitatingtransformativelearning.pdf

also the article on contact improv and permaculture http://www.bcollective.org/ESSAYS/embodied.activist.CQ.pdf

WOAH: completely accessible online books!! (these were found on sidwalksprouts) we should use some of this stuff for readings! -z

Agropolis: The Social, Political, and Environmental Dimensions of Urban Agriculture, available here: http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/186-8/

Cities Farming for the Future: Urban Ag for Green &amp; Productive Cities: http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/216-3/

Cities Feeding People: An Examination of Urban Agriculture in East Africa: http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/706-x/

For Hunger- Proof Cities: Sustainable Urban Food Systems: http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/882-1/

Growing Better Cities: Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Development: http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/226-0/

Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Sustainable Cities: http://www.energyandenvironment.undp.org/undp/index.cfm?module=Library&amp;page=Document&amp;DocumentID=6531

Omg. There are so many incredible websites on this stuff.. i cant stop checkin them out but damnnn i have to get other hw done.

http://www.foodsecurity.org/index.html

http://www.blackoakscenter.org/

http://www.urbantreeconnection.org/index.html

http://greenbrooklyn.com/category/urban-permaculture/

http://www.technologyforthepoor.com/UrbanAgriculture/Garden.htm

http://www.yestermorrow.org/

http://www.idrc.ca/in_focus_cities/

Permaculture Related Reference:

1. Bormann, F. Herbert, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe. Redesigning the American lawn: a search for environmental harmony. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2001.

2. Brawne, Michael. University of Virginia, The lawn: Thomas Jefferson. London: Phaidon, 1994.

3. Creasy, R. (1999) The Edible Herb Garden. N. Claredon, VT: Periplus Editions.

4. Crosby, A.W. (2006) Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900. New York: Cambridge University Press.

5. Diamond, J. (1998) Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W. W. Norton &amp; Company.

6. Haeg, F. (2008) Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn. New York: Metropolis Books.

7. Heintzman, A. &amp; Solomon, E. (Eds) (2003) Food and Fuel. Toronto, ON: House of Anasi Press.

8. Hemenway, T. (2009) Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.

9. Jacke, D &amp; Toensmeier, E. (2005) Edible Forest Gardens Vol.1 &amp; Vol.2. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing

10. Jenkins, Virginia Scott. Lawn a history of an American obsession. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution, 1994. Print.

11. Lerner, Steve. Eco-pioneers: practical visionaries solving today's environmental problems. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, c1997.

12. Mann, C. (2005) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Knopf Publishing Group.

13. Mollison, B. (1991) Introduction to Permaculture. Tyalgum, AUS: Tagari Press.

14. Olkowski, H. et al. (1979) The Integral Urban House: Self-Reliant Living in the City. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

15. Ponting, C. (2007) A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. New York: Penguin Books.

16. Shiva, V. (2008) Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in the Time of Climate Crisis. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

17. Steinberg, Ted. American green: the obsessive quest for the perfect lawn. New York: W.W. Norton, c2006.

18. Teyssot, Georges Editor. The American lawn. New York : Princeton Architectural Press; Montréal: Canadian Center for Architecture, c1999.

19. Wackernagel, M. &amp; Rees, W.E. (1996) Our Ecological Footprint. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

20. Yang, L. (2002) The City Gardener’s Handbook. North Adams, MA: Storey Books.

21. Zelov, C., &amp; Cousineau, P. (Eds.) (1997) Design Outlaws on the Ecological Frontier. Easton, PA: Knossus Publishers.

Plant Databases on the Internet

-The Ethnobotany Database

www.ars-grin.gov/duke

-Grin Taxonomy

www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/

-Plants for a Future

www.pfaf.org

-Edible Landscaping Nursery www.eat-it.com/

-Ornamental Edibles

www.ornamentaledibles.com/

ASSIGNMENTS:

homework for friday, nov 13th:

part 1) ZINE: by wednesday, go on our lovely website and post an idea for how you want to contribute to the final zine project. how do you see the zine taking shape? what aspect of urban perma do you want to focus on? where do you want to go with it? provide at least one resource you have found that has to do with your idea.

after we have initially posted ideas, people can connect and plan and share ideas and resources if they are interested in the same topics/ collaboration

part 2) TREE: reflect on the "urban permaculture tree". brainstorm: bring in notes, or a sketch, or questions, etc...how do you picture this project taking form? how do you want to see the tree come to fruition? (ha, ha.) ideas for the process of creating it? materials? etc?

feel free to add/edit this if i left anything out!

part 3) Readings on Urban agriculture.

http://queencityfarm.org/UrbanAgpaper.pdf

http://sidewalksprouts.wordpress.com/site-map/

http://michiganmessenger.com/28476/race-dynamic-seen-as-obstacle-in-detroit-urban-farming

http://www.plantingjustice.org/resources/racial-equality

post questions on discussion board