Cob project update! With photos.

Posted on October 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

The community chalkboard project in Strathcona is very nearly done; we’ll be putting the last of the plaster on it this weekend with our Permaculture Design Course.  It’s been such a fun project to work on, and a wonderful experience of doing Permaculture in a highly visible urban space.  Thanks to all the folks that have stopped by to ask questions, share a laugh, and lend a hand.  Keep reading for a couple of photos to update folks on the progress: Continue reading →

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Posted in Courses, Natural Building

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In Defense of “Professional Teachers.”

Posted on September 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

I have been having a lot of conversations lately with Permaculture colleagues about our teaching work, and in particular how we pay ourselves for that work. There seem to be two schools of thought on this. One: teaching is hard work and I’m not going to do it for nothing. Two: Teaching is only part of this work, and we shouldn’t be trying to make money off of it but should be making it available to our communities. The result of this split, which I don’t think we talk about enough in Permaculture circles, is that there is a vast gulf in the price that students pay for courses taught by teachers from the first school of thought versus teachers from the second.

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Posted in Education, Social Permaculture

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Cob Chalkboard Station in Strathcona

Posted on August 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

As part of the Permaculture Design Certificate course that I’m teaching with the lovely Sara Dent, we are building a cob chalkboard in Strathcona at the Chalk Xchange building, at the corner of Georgia and Princess.

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Green Cities for Everyone

Posted on July 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

It’s finally looking like summer in Vancouver.  Bike routes and beaches are packed, and so are every cafe’s outside tables as we all soak up the sunshine while we can. This city really shines when the weather is fine — although, being a born and raised West Coaster, I actually like the rain.  As we all get out on our bikes and look up every day to the mountains that tower over us, it’s easy to see why Vancouver is known as a green city, why it wants to become the Greenest City.  When you’re surrounded by this much natural beauty, it’s a no-brainer to want to protect it and bring more of it into our neighbourhoods. Spending my time as I do working to try to alter our idea of Nature to include the humans, I also spend a lot of time thinking about what greening my city really means for the people who live here.

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Posted in Justice, Social Permaculture

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Urban Permaculture Design Course at Langara College!

Posted on July 30, 2011 | 1 Comment

I’m very excited to be teaching a Permaculture Design Certificate course with a focus on urban Permaculture at Langara College this fall, with longtime urban farmer and community activist Grant Watson.

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Posted in Courses, Education

Going Beyond Green presentation, July 6

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Sitting in Circle with Ghosts: A Perspective on Social Permaculture

Posted on June 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

I had a fantastic time at the Village Building Convergence last week, and had so many wonderful experiences that it’s hard to figure out how to write about a specific one, or even choose one to attempt.

But I think that what struck me the most, and what’s stuck with me in the days since I got home, is that all the conversations that I got into seemed to direct themselves back around eventually to the same theme: the social and interpersonal elements of our work, the social permaculture.

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Posted in Justice, Social Permaculture

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