LEARNING FROM PIONEERS

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Permaculture Systems Research Tour

Eunice has travelled around Australia and the United States for 15 months to research mature Permaculture systems and why they were successful. During this independent and crowdfunded research, Eunice lived and worked in some of the world’s best permaculture projects and studied them in detail. Her main intention was to learn directly from the pioneer’s experiences (their challenges and achievements) and share that information with young Permaculture designers, so they could fast track their actions.

Right from the beginning Sara and Eunice have been co-creating various materials for the research crowdfunding supporters and the worldwide Permaculture movement.

WALKING THE TALK 

Permaculture Systems Research Tour

australia

Why Australia ?

To:

  • Understand which was the context that made Australia the birth country of Permaculture;
  • Go to the core of the concept to understand the importance of design as a priority;
  • Experience in site the relations between climate, geology, soils and vegetation;
  • Meet some of the leading Permaculture professional designers;
  • See some of the oldest Permaculture demonstration sites;
  • Establish a network of connections with different Permaculture and Holistic Management professionals and enthusiasts.

What in Australia ?

To:

In Australia the research involves visits to diferent Permaculture projects of interest along the East coast. In some of them I might stay one week in others one or two months. This itenerant experience will allow me to observe different mature sites and their ecosystems’ responses to the implementation of Permaculture design. It will also allow me to do some survey on a few relevant aspects: – How have this projects suceeded ubder climate change? -What have they produced as food? – How have they buffered and changed the microclimate to be more benign? – How they integrate their social and educational aspects in their daily life? – etc.

usa

Why USA ?

To:

  • Undertake a long-term experience in some mature Permaculture projects that I have been following;
  • Experience daily life in mature Permaculture projects, while settling and organizing new knowledge and ideas collected during the research tour around Australia;
  • Look for sustainable and financially sound approaches to land restoration in big scale sites;
  • Look for techniques and strategies that can be applied to the Portuguese context (California for example, is in the same latitude as Portugal, having similar climate).

Projects to visit soon

OAEC

Polyface Farm

Whole Systems Designs

Real World case studies of sucessful systems!

Learn how these complex systems are actively designed, how they function, and how they evolve over time by exploring our in-depth reports, interactive web pages & insightful diaries from our direct – action research tour: Permaculture Systems Research (PSR). Be sure to checkout the bonus educational resources!

The Evolution of Research Tour

Purposes of this tour

  • Undertake a long-term experience in some mature Permaculture projects that I have been following;
  • Experience daily life in mature Permaculture projects, while settling and organizing new knowledge and ideas collected during the research tour around Australia;
  • Look for sustainable and financially sound approaches to land restoration in big scale sites;
map

What experts are saying about our work

"Ever since the publication of Permaculture One in 1978, the documentation of the results of my own practice in permaculture design and implementation has been a personal and strategic commitment to validating permaculture innovation and communicating the results. Through that process I have been painfully aware of how a lack of independent and supported research has held back the potential of permaculture locally and globally. In more recent times there has been increasing interest by researchers and academics from many disciplines in studying the outcomes of permaculture education, design and practice. Eunice Neves and her work in studying long established permaculture systems in Australia and around the world stands out as the most significant for a number of reasons. Her background as a design professional in Landscape Architecture is central ...
 
"Permaculture is always being asked for ‘evidence’ i.e. does it work? There are some cogent results but usually on an individual scale. Permaculture has long lacked a systematic body of comparative data.Without it, the case for permaculture as an alternative to industrialised agriculture, or being sufficiently productive, is weak. Eunice Neves in her three year detailed study of ten ‘organic systems - eight permaculture and two without permaculture, provides the results and responses the permaculture movement requires to establish its claims. As the world moves into greater chaos from global warming it is in dire need of flexible and responsive alternatives for living in general, and buffers against extremes. In all phases of human living, we lack models and information for this fast changing future. Eunice, with her special mind ...
 
"Nice's research in documenting pioneering permaculture people and their projects looked really thorough and standardised. I was very impressed. I have not seen any research of this scale and quality in the field of Permaculture. I have seen some great research but it has been on small scales into particular projects or elements of permaculture. You have put so much work into the project so far and with excellent results to show. I encourage anyone or body with the means to support Nice to complete this project. Nice is focused, lives simply, able to integrate seamlessly with the lives of those she is studying, committed and, critically, she gets the big picture of permaculture as whole systems thinking."
 
"Designing holistic systems for a complex world​ is avoided by most researchers and designers as it requires the incorporation of a myriad of variables. But that is how nature works and succeeds, providing for redundancy, allowing genetic adaptation to occur as the climate changes, and accepting the consequences of change in the deep cycles of oceans and planets. Permaculture design is equipped to work in that space, with its strong ethical base and the addressing of all domains of human endeavour through universal design principles and a flexible design process.​ Eunice Neves has investigated established permaculture ventures around the World and deeply researched their designs to assess their level of success and the veracity of the design principles used in their creation. Years of travelling and working with the World's ...
 
"Eunice's Permaculture Research Tour presents a comparative study of mature permaculture and land regeneration projects of different scales and contexts. This research gets behind the cliches to offer real insight into the logic behind each design, with a depth and rigour that would be difficult to match even by taking a tour of each property. Best of all it is presented in an innovative, fun and readable format that helps the reader understand the functional interconnections in each design. It is a unique and valuable contribution to one of the most promising solutions to the ecological emergency and climate crisis."