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The Live Launch of the Worldwide Permaculture Network (WPN) is Now Underway!!

Dear People

After months and months of work, we’re now launching a new system — the Worldwide Permaculture Network (WPN) — which will enable permaculturists everywhere to:

  • Put themselves on a clickable map, where people (permaculturists and non-permaculturists) can see at a glance the scope of the spread of permaculture worldwide
  • Showcase their work as individuals, and the work of any projects they are administrating
  • Be searchable according to many variables (climate zone, project type, and more)
  • Network with other permaculturists everywhere
  • Advertise their consultancy services
  • Advertise their courses (for educational projects)
  • Share knowledge, experiences, challenges, successes, and inspiration
  • Help inspire non-permaculturists with the potential for positive, systemic change that permaculture design systems can bring
  • And more…

Background:

I conjured the idea of this database more than two and a half years ago, and with the support of PRI Australia we’ve been trying to squirrel away finances to build it ever since. Whilst saving our pennies, I’ve had a static HTML project listing up in the interim, but it was always a cumbersome way to display and promote projects of course and over the last several months as I’ve been working on this database, I’ve had to neglect that section entirely.

With this new system you can create your own user profile, and, if applicable, advertise your status as a consultant and/or aid worker. You can add your project(s), of whatever type, be it an urban residential project, or an African or Californian aid project, a Sydney or Delhi suburbs commercial project or something not even land based – like an economic project (LETS, or similar), or a political activist project, and more. Educational projects get to list their courses.

By adding a profile (People and Projects), you get added to an interactive world map! You can browse projects by their summary cards and filter by climate zone or project type – or just by clicking on the pins on the map. You can find ‘People’ by different criteria also – climate zone, consultants, aid workers, teachers, etc.

You get your own blog with your profile, and if you’re sharing interesting and valuable updates to your blog you’ll find other users clicking to ‘follow’ you so they can easily monitor your updates via their ‘dashboard’ – where you arrive after logging in. The best updates will be ‘featured’, thus attracting more followers and potentially supporters of your work (including attracting more students, and/or consultancy customers, etc.).

A Plea

Despite being created by the PRI, these features are available to anyone who aligns his/her life in accordance with the three permaculture ethics of People Care, Earth Care, and Return of Surplus to the first two ethics.

Because of my work over the last five years, studying world issues and writing about them, I am acutely aware of the more-than-precarious situation we are in as a race. I have created the WPN as a tool to help fast-track the take-up of permaculture design concepts to help ameliorate our predicament as rapidly as possible. The WPN system has enormous potential if we make use of it in the way designed – i.e. using it to share information, resources, inspiration and encouragement. In addition, the WPN can, if it receives community-funded support for the costs involved, continue its development to tailor/improve it to meet the needs of users. At present we at the PRI have diverted funds to create this system from our own urgent need to expand and improve facilities for students and from other projects that needed it, but we’ve done so in the belief that the WPN has such a potential, and that time is so short, that if we didn’t go ahead and initiate such a much-needed project, then as economies continue to collapse we might never see such a system getting created at all.

It would be great if we can all build on our common shared vision, and I offer up this system as a tool to help accomplish this. Your feedback and support to improve will be welcome, and acted upon as we have time and means to do so.

The time is now!

As architect of this system, I warmly invite you to go to www.permacultureglobal.com and sign up. After signing up, please ensure you complete your personal profile and pretty it up as a good example for subsequent users to emulate. Then, add your project if you have one (it might be your own residential yard, or a project involving many more people, like a permaculture local group, or other, etc.), also ensuring to maintain a high standard of textual content, formatting and a good sprinkling of nice images, etc., so we can ensure people investigating permaculture for the first time are wowed with what they find in the system.

Permaculturists – this is our time! Let’s stop considering permaculture as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ and accept the fact that there really is no alternative. As far as our place in history, it’s permaculture or bust. We need to come out of our closets, and recognise that it’s the time to share and nurture, to build community, share seeds and designs, share enthusiasm and wisdom, and practical know how. The WPN will facilitate this like no other system available today. I have laboured in the hope that you will make best use of this system.

Thank you everybody for all that you do in the world.

Before I close, a big thank you to Jared and Joshua and the team at www.enspiral.com for all their hard work and patience with my never-ending pedanticism.

Sincerely

Craig

25 Comments

  1. Well done and thank you for bringing us this fantastic resource! Craig, I especially commend you on your involvement in this and all your hard work on the WPM but also with PRI.

  2. This is GREAT! Thanks for all your hard work Craig (and team). Everything on the WPN “beta” site seems to work flawlessly and the database seems to be building rapidly. Excellent work!

  3. Geoff and Craig have put their heart soul and farm into this. We owe a lot to both of them for all of the hard work and risk that was involved in getting this site up. This site can be a game changer if we all actively engage it! Get your profiles up and share it with all permies.

    Thanks Craig and Geoff for all you do!

    Rob Avis
    Verge Permaculture
    Calgary Alberta

  4. Bravo! Thank you for all your hard work, vision and selfless-ness in accomplishing this network on the behalf of everyone!
    Kudos!

  5. I second every thing that Rob said. There has been a lot of Money and time given to this project. I would be happy to donate to this site on a regular basis to support it and keep it alive. I know that the reward back to me will be 2 fold. Craig, could this be an option for the future?

    I figure that if I can generate networks and contacts for my consultancy work then I feel like giving back to Geoff, Craig and the PRI for all its hard work.

    I used to subscribe to a site in Australia by REED Construction Data. It networked landscapers with the construction industry for work and contacts. I cost me around $7000.00 + per year. So I realise the huge value that WPN will give me as a Permaculture designer and consultant.

    The WPN will be powerful tool if you use it to its full advantage.

  6. Will this site stay, including written columns, or is everything expected to be carried over to the new network?

  7. NB! I notice some have the same problem I had, that my picture was bigger than the frame. Then I found out that you can just double click the picture and fasten your mouse in a corner, and then drag it to proper size.

  8. Im new to permaculture, but having a passion for sustainable agriculture and community around the world, i had this same vision after taking a Grow Biointensive workshop this Feb. i’m so grateful to find this vision already exists as a website! Thanks for all your great work! God bless you!

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