Goals

Goals are set in order to evaluate against them. It's like defining quality in the beginning of a process.

Earth Care: Increasing the variety of edible plants.

People Care: Making sure that Ritva learns about permaculture and that she gets the help she needs.

Fair Share: It’s an exchange in both direction: Giving and taking. She and her husband get a lovely design and garden and abundance in berries and tomatoes, while I get new varieties for my garden, especially flowers.

Looby's design web

Looby's design web is non-linear process allowing the designer to jump from anchor point to anchor point according to the designers needs

Possible anchor points are: Vision, Ideas, Limits, Helps, Patterns, Principles, Integration, Action, Momentum, Reflection, Appreciation, Pause

Sequence used: Helps → Limits → Ideas → Vision → Patterns → Principles → Integration → Action → Momentum → Reflection → Appreciation → Paus → Action → Reflection

Tools - Base map, Zones, Sectors

Base map

Client interview

Very important was the client interview and an observation over all seasons.

PASTE sheet

From what I found and observed I created a PASTE sheet.(Plants, Animals, Structure, Technology, Events)

Pathway

Winter Zones

Summer Zones

Sector

The design

Evaluation

This design was evaluated against the Nordic Institute's criteria.

The Nordic Institute requires to evaluate a design to what it achieved in earth care, people care, fair share, while earth care is split into soil, air, water, energy.

Evaluated against its set ethical goals in the beginning of the design - it achieved them using permaculture design.

A good straightforward garden design, using a few key permaculture tools.

Tomas Remiarz - FPA2

It’s a great design map with colours. Photos are nice, great to see hands achieve the plans and have fun.

Catherine Dolleris

Goals

Goals are set in order to evaluate against them. It's like defining quality in the beginning of a process.

Earth Care: I need the blue flame to guide all those in search of wisdom in the dark night to a glorious end. I want to grow food beyond the realms of time and space. I need a winter residence for the tame feathered egg laying beasts (chicken as the earthlings call them). Reducing my carbon footprint by creating food and energy on site.

People Care: a place worthy of my mighty frame. Where I can rest after all those battles I fought across the galaxy (and Facebook). Dreaming big without the boundaries in mind. Building something that Lumia can enjoy as well. Taking care of some of my needs.

Fair Share: let everyone take part in the journey, the endeavor, the challenges.

Context

Base map buildings

Zones

Sectors

Vegetation

Some Photos to start with

Winter

Colour peeling off

Shed in summer

Shed in winter

Tools, Tools, Tools

Some Photos to continoue

Some Photos to end

Credits

Lumia, Sirpa, Ritva, Nikko, Esko

Really nice maps and 3D illustrations and video

Tomas Remiarz - FPA2

The feeling of accomplishment and pride to have completed this big and difficult design with many functions and elements.

Catherine Dolleris

Goals

Earth Care: biogas from a DIY digester fed from organic material is besides wood the most regenerative energy source we have on the planet. If you don't do it you have to ask yourself: why not?

People Care: we, the people, need energy – for cooking, heating, transportation, travel, etc. A biogas system for Beyond Buckthorns will make sure we have a showcase system. Something people can learn from. Besides that I take care of Lumia and me. We got energy for cooking.

Fair Share: The design of the system itself has been shared over and over on different DIY biogas websites by TH and me. Having it as a diploma design makes sure more people will read about biogas. I’m getting an education and research digester. The plant parts that can't be used for food will deliver energy.

Data, Thermal images, Photos

How I got the data? Citizen science!

In order to get the data I used remote sensing. I coded for ESP8266 + 2 DS18B20 temperature sensors and soldered a so called shield for the Wemos D1.

Data is sent via Wifi to Mosquitto and then towards Homeassistant (where it gets stored).

The citizen science design was first included as one of the 10 designs but then I realized that it would be even more difficult for the tutor to understand what I'm doing (context).

Credits

Lumia, Ritva

The SolarC³ITIES Team: TH, Jody, Kathy, Janice, and Bob

Some cows

The videos! Absolutely enlightening! Please add more in your next designs! You lighting up the gas, very exciting, I am quite jealous

Catherine Dolleris

Please do try this at home

TH Culhane

Description

This design is to show that communication is an integral part of a permaculture association and thanks to permaculture design communication can be designed. I’m using the permaculture design philosophy with its ethics "earth care", "people care" and "fair share" and its principles throughout the design and also to set a goal.

Goals

Earth Care in this design is to enable others to bring information on how to take care for this planet is brought towards a broader public.

People Care is about the balance and the care for people in the Finnish Permaculture Association, especially those that are engaged in activities – people who contribute resources of any kind! But also people interested in permaculture get the information they need to take responsibility for their own lives and their family.

Fair Share is distributed by my volunteer work for the association and what comes back from it. Meet new people, learn about all kinds of topics, perhaps even earn some money.

Vision

A stable high quality website that serves the purpose of the association and its members by integrating the members into the content creation process. An online portal into permaculture in Finland.

A working internal transparent communication and access to all data for all members (except to those parts protected by the GDPR (General data protection regulation)

Engage people interested in permaculture through multiple channels

Embrace sociocracy

The communication monoculture inside the permaculture

Who is using Gmail?

Who is active on Facebook / Instagram?

Who is using WhatsApp?

The edge between two system is its own system

Have you ever heard of Protonmail?

Have you ever heard of Diaspora?

Have you ever heard of Signal or Matrix?

Help > Who needs to know what

The "Who needs to know what when was shown to me by Tanja Korvenmaa.

Thank you Tanja!

Help > Observation

Put into a mind map

Communication needs

• Non-members must be able to get in contact with the association
• Members must be able to communicate with other members
• Members must be able to identify who is responsible
• Members must be able to get in contact with members responsible
• The board needs to be able to get in contact with members
• The circles must be able to communicate towards members and non-members
• The public needs to have access to permaculture information in Finnish
• The association needs to send official documents and info to members

Limit - evaluation of findings

PMI of all the different communication tools used

SWOC (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Challenge) of different communication tools in a future perspective

Costs

Time & manpower

Brooks' law - n(n − 1) / 2

Principles

• Use edges
  • the more diverse output of the association's content we can use, the better
  • use as many channels as possible
  • use the edge between different communities -> needs identification
• Use & value diversity
  • different authors
  • user driven content
  • make it possible for all members to contribute
• Slow & Small solutions
  • contribution from members will take time -> be patient but don't lose momentum. The website is a big change. Again: it will take time
• Apple Self regulation & accept feedback
  • Besides a contact form we could have a feedback form and other kind of forms
  • Discussion in the communication circle
• Everything gardens
  • everyone can contribute
• The yield is theoretically unlimited
  • Let's check the numbers of engagement, hit rate, stats and see if members interact, or not. How many articles got published?

More principles

• The problem is the solution
  • I often wanted do too much -> I should do less
• Work with nature rather than against
  • the nature of content dissemination is to use as many different ways and be as effective as possible while using the least amount of resources
• Each important function is supported by many elements
  • dissemination happens over multiple channels
  • multiple authors
  • multiple communication circle members
  • multiple communication managers (people that can manage accounts and understand the processes)
• Each element performs many functions
  • while most elements are informative they also allow feedback and let people engage
  • more edge due to different channels
• Integrate rather then segregate
  • The segregation of the members from the board needs to end

Implementation

Before

After

Implementation

Membership workflow

Before

After

Who needs to know what now

Website stats

Website is connected to Matomo (opensource tracking tool)

• ~ 1000 visitors / month.
• Numbers fluctuate between seasons
• Numbers are higher when we run a lecture series or before an event

Slack stats

Evaluation against the goals

Earth Care in this design is to enable others to bring information on how to take care for this planet towards a broader public.

People Care is about the balance and the care for people in the Finnish Permaculture Association, especially those that are engaged in activities – people who contribute resources of any kind! But also people interested in permaculture get the information they need to take responsibility for their own lives and their family.

Fair Share is distributed by my volunteer work for the association and what comes back from it. Meet new people, learn about all kinds of topics, perhaps even earn some money.

Credits

Lumia for proofreading it twice

Dan for reading it twice and giving feedback

Comms team: Alexis Jutras, Maria Gremmelmaier Candido, Johanna Hatch, Camilla Grankull, Lumia Huhdanpää-Jais

Tanja Korvenmaa for her initial work

All the participants during many different discussions

A bold and very complex design that is sometimes hard to follow.

Tomas Remiarz

Description

Water catchment system designed towards the needs of the different food growing areas.

Goals

Earth Care by making sure that we don’t need well water for the garden. Store energy higher up in the landscape and make it available when needed.

People Care by making sure that Lumia, my wife, doesn’t have to worry about water scarcity. Be more resilient when it comes to water.

Fair Share by making my design available online.

Survey

Analysis

Rain water collection possibilities

Design

m³	where
2x1	Stacked behind the house
2x1	Stacked front side of the house
1	back of the biogas shed
1	in front of the biogas shed
1	inside the biogas shed
1	besides the garage
2x0,2	Besides the house and in the main garden
8,4	total

With that many different locations of water collection I have fulfilled the “multiple elements for important functions” principle. All the elements are in a good relative location to the different gardens.

Evaluation

Best, Worst, Change from Lumia - how about it?

Evaluation of the design process and the tools used

Evaluation of effectiveness against the goals set in the beginning: No well water for the garden, make sure Lumia doesn't need to worry. Store water higher up in the landscape.

Good illustrations and photos, nice to get that feeling of security and sense of accomplishment because the design works and has made your lives a little better. All in all a great design that will be great to share as a demonstration of how to make designs.

Catherine Dolleris

Description

An online lecture series for the Finnish Permaculture Association

Implemented during COVID times

Goals

Earth Care: Bringing the knowledge of permaculture to as many people as possible so that they can take care of the Earth.

People Care: Learning the things I’m interested in. Encouraging other to step forward to hold a lecture. Bringing permaculture and permaculture related topics to the members of the Finnish Permaculture Association and beyond.

Fair Share: I get the knowledge I want while others get the lecture they want while other get paid for holding a lecture.

Survey

Survey was carried out mainly as observation from what I have seen at the Finnish Permaculture Association (decline in membership), other associations and communities (not just the permaculture associations).

Key observation: Online lectures were more and more accepted even by computer non-literates.

Analysis

PMI of online formats, PMI of possible software, PMI of difference between webinar and interactive lecture, SWOC from different perspective, SMART Goals, Limits & Helps, Principles (guiding)

Zones in a different context

• Zone 00 = for me
• Zone 0 = for Lumia
• Zone 1 = for friends
• Zone 2 = for colleagues and acquaintances
• Zone 3 = for the members of the Suomen Permakulttuuriyhdistys RY
• Zone 4 = for the Finns
• Zone 5 = for people interested

The teachers

Principles

The principles in this stage will guide me through the design.

• Multiple elements for important functions → One lecture feels not enough, also a panel discussion doesn’t feel enough. It also needs more than one person in the beginning to accept my idea. I’m bound to run my ideas by a peer in the association.
• Each element performs multiple functions → If we think of an event as an element then each event should accomplish more than one function. → Educate, get new members, connect, etc.
• Diversity → If I’m going to look for teachers, I’m not going to look for the same teachers that are always present in Finland. I also have to keep in mind to not just look for men but also women.
• Edge effect → It is not just about permaculture but also what is associated with it. Just because someone is growing good food organically doesn’t mean he could tell a lot about permaculture (Sepp Holzer didn’t know that he is into permaculture until someone told him that what he is doing is called permaculture). It is also about the edge of the association, the social edge, the connections between different associations / individuals.
• The yield of the system is theoretically unlimited → It might be not just about one lecture, but about the recording of it, the remix of it, conversion to podcast, etc.

Feedback & Evaluation

run a Best, Worst, Change with Lumia, Comms team, Cathrine, and from my perspective

from Comms:

Credits

Management: Lumia

Comms team: Alexis Jutras, Maria Gremmelmaier Candido, Johanna Hatch, Camilla Grankull, Lumia Huhdanpää-Jais

The teachers: Lotta Laaksonen, Anton Nordqvist, Andreas Jonsson, Annevi Sjöberg, Looby Macnamara, Cathrine Dolleris, Sandor Ellix Katz, Erkki Pöytäniemi, Emma Ojanen, Lumia Huhdanpää-Jais, Joshua Finch

and all the contributors

Great idea and well analysed. I think I might consider doing PermaTalks within Permakultur Danmark.

Catherine Dolleris

Thorough analysis leading to a simple, effective design – great example of permaculture!

Tomas Remiarz - FPA2

Description

The design describes how I transferred a former annual garden into some type of orchard valuing the existing grassland while using edges to grow trees for multiple usage. In years to come there will be a good yield in fruits and berries. It is my biggest design so far. It uses the SADIMET design process and a lots of different tools. Some of them I used for the first time.

Goals

Earth Care: create abundance. A lot of apples for eating raw, apple juice and cooking. Sequester carbon. Leave space for nature, wild plants, insects, birds.

People Care: a place I and my wife can walk through and be happy but also for family, friends and visitors to enjoy.

Fair Share: Sharing apple and berry harvests with family & friends. Sharing this design with the public.

Survey

• Client interview
• Observation over 4 to 5 years
• DAFOR (dominant, abundant, frequent, occasional, rare)
• Climate data (see "Catching the rain")
• Base Map
• Sectors
• Budget
• Limits & Helps

Images before

Survey

Analysis

• Identifying indicator plants from DAFOR
• Contour and orientation
• Calculation of the amount of apple trees needed
• Nutrient demand of apple trees
• Nitrogen fixing trees & shrubs
• Needs of Wood
• Flow Map
• Soil samples
• Function, System, Elements
• Principles

Images from analysis

Visualising

Design

Bringing the ideas and goals together. Calculating the nutrient demand of the fruit trees. Relative placement of elements.

Now

Evaluation

Difficult to evaluate against the set goals - it's too early

• The rabbits feasting on the apple trees
• my first concept wasn't working

• The amount of natural plants
• Letting go of the "Everything is a food forest" public view that dictates what is expected
• The ditches and berms

• A bit more comfrey
• More diversity of berry bushes

• Keeping it as a biotope. Are we nature working or are we working nature? What is our part / role?

Credits

Lumia for reading, proofreading, tips, ideas, inputs

Sirpa for helping to identify plants and planting the front row decades ago.

The community for helping to identify plants

Seppo for the ditches & berms

Dan McTiernan & Andreas Jonsson for their input on swales

Cathrine for saving me from a mistake

The vision of the land in 10-20 years from now – filled with blossom, lush fruits and a buzz of bees. I also really like all the details on nutrients and principles being put to work.

Catherine Dolleris