---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Permaculture Association Ebulletin
From: office@...
Date: Fri, October 5, 2007 3:11 am
To: jenwren@...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-bulletin Dear friend,
Welcome to the latest ebulletin from the Permaculture Association (Britain).
In this edition
PAB members" news
- Prospective trustees 2007-08
- AGM 2007 of the Permaculture Association (Britain)
General news
- Landscope business opportunities at Dartington Hall Trust
- Potential permaculture course venue in France - teachers sought!
- Population petition
- Launch of Buckminster Fuller Institute award for "Design
Revolution"
- Speaker sought for Wrexham environment group
Events
- "Positive Energy" - Findhorn Foundation Easter 2008
conference announced
- Embracing the Triple Bottom Line - Lincoln University conference
- 7th International Ecocity Conference
Funding
- Alice McCosh Trust
- Funding for countryside skills (in Wales)
International news
- Urgent support needed for Palestinian permaculture project
- Are you dancing? ...Are you asking? IPES benefit night in Manchester

PAB contact details
PAB members" news
Prospective trustees
The existing trustees – Mark Warner, Jan Mulreany, Robert Squires
and Graham Burnett are all intending to stand for re-election. In
addition to this we have one further person standing: Tomas Remiarz.

“I have been involved in UK permaculture since the mid 90s, after
attending Patrick Whitefield's Sustainable Land Use course in Worcester
in 1995. In 1997 I received my Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.
Since then, I worked in West Yorkshire for 6 years with Treesponsibility,
a bioregional climate education, reforestation and ecological restoration
project. I also taught a number of permaculture design and shorter
courses, and have been a regular volunteer in the PAB office since its
move to Leeds in the late 90s. As a trustee, I would be keen to help
establish the structures that can make the Association an active player
in the transition to a sustainable Britain and world. One particular
interest for me is to apply the spirit of 'fair shares' by linking
projects and individuals for mutual benefit, within Britain as well as
across national borders.”

Tomas Remiarz - GreenLand Services, Ecological Restoration, Woodland
Creation and Management, Permaculture Design and Practice.

Elections for the trustee posts will take place at the 2007 AGM...
Permaculture Association (Britain) 2007 AGM

This year's AGM will be held at Hollybush Conservation Centre in Leeds,
home of the PAB office, on Saturday 20th October. People are welcome to
arrive from 10am onwards and the AGM itself will start at 11am. After
lunch we will have space for people to discuss the future of the PAB,
learn more about forthcoming funding opportunities, and share their work.
We want this event to be as simple to organise and enjoyable as possible,
and so we would ask you to bring food to share (if you can) - we will
provide some food as a starter and all the drinks - and info about your
projects and activities. If you are unable to get there and back in one
day, then let us know and we will help you to identify accommodation.
If you want to attend the AGM, please RSVP by phone, email or letter.
For anyone that doesn't know, we work on a biennial basis, with a
lower-key AGM one year, followed by an AGM within a larger Permaculture
Convergence the subsequent year.
The venue is a short walk from Headingley train station, which is ten
minutes" ride from Leeds city station - alternatively, there are numerous
regular bus services from the city centre to Kirkstall. For more
transport info and directions, please see the "contact" page on
our website, or contact us via the usual channels.

We are also inviting all AGM attendees to come to nearby Hebden Bridge
after the event to take part in the tree planting weekend, organised by
Treesponsibility, a wonderful local charity working to reforest the
Calder Valley. We will be having dinner and staying in their camping barn
on the evening of Saturday 20th October, then planting trees on Sunday.
This will be a great opportunity to carry on the vibrant discussions from
the AGM, or to do some relaxing yet invigorating work regenerating
woodland in beautiful surroundings. NB. You must contact Treesponsibility
to book a place on the tree planting weekend; the cost is £15
including meals and accommodation (bring a sleeping bag). Call 01422
845418 to book.

General news
Landscope business opportunities at Dartington Hall Trust

The Dartington Hall Trust is very interested in generating landscope
applications to take forward the results of work at the Agroforestry
Research Trust on a commercial basis. They are particularly interested in
protected growing methods, production of novel crops, and environmental
benefits (enhancement of soil quality, biodiversity) that can be
generated in a commercial business based on agroforestry principles. If
there is anyone in particular that you think would be interested in
developing such a business, please contact Julie Richardson at
j.richardson@.... More information about the Dartington Hall
Trust Landscope project can be found at
http://www.dartington.org/landscope/.
Potential permaculture course venue in France - teachers sought!
A message from Steve Hanson:
"I am an English smallholder in France and have recently become
interested in Permaculture, I would love to attend a course and have even
found some here in France BUT. I have neither the money nor the ability
to leave my farm for two weeks; my only solution would be to see if
someone might like to use my farm as the venue for a course? We have a
small chateau next door, so we could arrange accommodation for up to 20
people and of course camping on our ground or in the grounds of the
chateau. And there are large rooms for use as classrooms in the event of
bad weather."
Steve Hanson
Le Bois De Grammont, 36140 Lourdoueix Saint Michel, Indre, France
Tel (0033) (0) 254 064523
E-mail Steve@...
Web: www.le-bois.biz

Population petition
The Optimum Population Trust (OPT) has an epetition calling for the
government to introduce a policy enabling UK population to stabilise and
then gradually to decrease to an environmentally sustainable level. If you
are interested visit http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.petition.html.
Launch of Buckminster Fuller Institute award for "Design
Revolution"
On the occasion of the 112th birthday of one of the 20th century's most
prescient futurists and global thinkers, The Buckminster Fuller Institute
(BFI) announces the launch of the first annual Buckminster Fuller
Challenge.
Established to catalyze the vanguard of a global design revolution, the
Challenge will award a single \$100,000 prize annually to support the
development and implementation of a solution with significant potential
to solve the world's most pressing problems in the shortest possible time
while enhancing the earth's ecological integrity.
The first prize will be conferred in June of 2008, timed to coincide with
the opening of the first major retrospective exhibition of Buckminster
Fuller's work in the US at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York
City.
Entries accepted September 4th - October 30th, 2007. This is a program of
The Buckminster Fuller Institute. Contact us at: challenge@... or
visit http://challenge.bfi.org
(Source: Association for Environment Conscious Building)

Speaker sought for Wrexham environment group
A local environment group in Grasford near Wrexham, north Wales, is
looking for a speaker to give a talk about permaculture to the group. The
meetings are usually held on a Monday, and a fee/costs may be arranged.
Interested? Please contact Lisa on lisa.whitehead1@....
Events
"Positive Energy" - Findhorn Foundation Easter 2008 conference
announced
Speakers at the 2008 conference, to take place 22-28 March at the
Findhorn Foundation ecovillage in the north of Scotland, include:
- Joanna Macy, teacher and author, the creator of the Work That
Reconnects. Drawing from Buddhist practices, systems theory, and love for
life, her workshops empower environmental and social activists worldwide.
- Dorothy Maclean, co-founder of the Findhorn Foundation and author of
Come Closer: Messages from the God Within.
- Richard Heinberg, one of the world’s foremost peak oil educators.
He is the author of seven books including The Party’s Over: Oil, War
and the Fate of Industrial Societies.
- Richard Olivier is Artistic Director of Olivier Mythodrama, a unique
leadership development consultancy. His work is at the leading edge of
bringing theatre into the development of authentic leadership.
- Richard Lochhead, MSP is Member of the Scottish Parliament for the
constituency of Moray, where Findhorn is located. He currently holds the
Scottish National Party's portfolios on Environment, Energy, Fishing and
Rural Affairs in the Scottish Parliament.
- Rob Hopkins is founder of Transition Town Totnes, the first transition
town project in the UK. Transition Towns are an emerging approach to
enabling towns to prepare for peak oil and climate change and act as
catalysts for the community to explore how the end of the age of cheap
oil will affect them.
- Megan Quinn is the Outreach Director of Community Service, Inc. She
co-wrote and co-produced her organisation's documentary, The Power of
Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.
- Jonathan Dawson is a sustainability educator, teaching up to
undergraduate level at the Findhorn Foundation ecovillage in Scotland. He
is also President of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and Executive
Secretary of GEN-Europe.
For further details place visit
http://www.findhorn.org/programmes/programme258.php.
Embracing the Triple Bottom Line: Practical Solutions for a Sustainable
Future
PAB member project Hill Holt Wood and JHWalter bring you the
opportunity to take part in a unique and exciting opportunity rarely
seen outside of London.
The conference, which will take place on 9th Jan 2008 at Lincoln
University, will embrace four themes of sustainability; Economic, Social,
Environmental and Design.
This innovative conference brings together nationally recognised speakers
and offers solutions on a practical level for achieving a sustainable
future.

The first Hill Holt Conference was held in 2003 and its theme was
“Towards Sustainable Management of the Countryside”. Much has
happened over the intervening years and in 2008 the conference widens its
remit and looks at practical implementation as it focuses on Sustainable
Resource Management.
To register your interest in receiving further information, please
contact Magz Knight on 01522 504319 or e-mail magzknight@....
7th International Ecocity Conference
If you happen to be in or around the west coast of the USA from 22-26th
April 2008, you might be interested in the Ecocity World Summit in San
Francisco. The conference Summit will be convening an international
community of inspired change-makers; courageous individuals who are
addressing problems of the world's environment with thoughtful long-range
solutions that are truly sustainable, ecologically healthy and socially
just.
For further details see http://www.ecocityworldsummit.org/index.htm
Funding
Alice McCosh Trust
If you are in Scotland and working on a project in need of environmental
support, you may want to consider the Alice McCosh Trust. The deadline
is end of November 07 for the first award (but they envisage them being
annual). All details of how to apply are at
www.thealicemccoshtrust.org.uk.
Funding for countryside skills (in Wales)
Smallholders can apply for 50% or 30% of course costs for quite a wide
variety of courses, from hedge-laying to pond management, fencing
installation or dry stone walling. Not dependent on Skill Checks or
registration with Farming Connect, these are available until March 2008
from Hefin Hughes at Lantra 01982 552646.
(Source: Organic Wales Bulletin)

International news
Urgent support needed for Palestinian permaculture project
Marda Permaculture Project is a new member of the PAB Projects Network.
They are a permaculture farming project in Palestine which have developed
links with PAB members in Manchester. We are working with them on
developing long term funding streams, but they are at a crisis point at
the moment and have no funds to continue.
Donations to see them over the present situation would give them time to
find the longer term funding. Please send donations to us (write
"Marda" on the back of cheques) to forward to the project, or
send us information about fund raising events that we can publicise. See
below for an example of a fundraiser organised in Manchester recently for
the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador. Many thanks!


Are you dancing? ...Are you asking? IPES benefit night in Manchester
Inspired by Karen Inwood's talk in August (organised by Manchester
Permaculture Network) about the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador,
three friends decided to organise a fund-raiser for the Institute.

The Permaculture Institute of El Salvador was founded in 2002 by small
farmers concerned about the destruction of the Salvadoran environment and
their way of life. It is a network of subsistence farmers trained in
ecological farming methods and permaculture, and community trainers. The
network pass on their knowledge and skills by demonstrating the benefits
of farming in this way, to communities affected by deforestation, the
impacts and high prices of conventional agricultural inputs such as
fertilisers and pesticides and the destruction of their Mayan culture.

Helen, one of the organisers said: "It is one of the most inspiring
projects I"ve heard of for a long time. People working together and using
skills and resources that they have between them, not only for
immediate survival but looking after the land, the community and the
ecology for the long term".

After a month of planning and a lot of borrowing and favours the
fund-raiser was held in early September. More than eighty people attended
the knees up, dancing to the likes of the Pixies, The Clash, Run DMC,
Pogues and anything else that got people dancing. The result was many
sore heads, a few blisters and three hundred and eighty pounds raised for
the great work of permaculturists in El Salvador.
To join the Manchester Permaculture Network egroup visit
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Manchester_Permaculture_Network/.


For further news, events and courses visit the PAB website.
Remember, you can support the PAB's work by joining the Association.

Best wishes
The Leeds office team
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Permaculture Association (Britain). Charity number 1116699, company
number 05908919.
Postal address: BCM Permaculture Association, London, WC1N 3XX.
Tel: 0845 458 1805
Email: office@...
Web: www.permaculture.org.uk includes information about courses,
groups, projects and much more. You can join by going to:
http://www.permaculture.org.uk/mm.asp?mmfile=join

To unsubscribe, click here.

--
Jenny Bull
mobile 07747713208

Eastside Roots Community Garden Centre
Trinity Community Arts,
The Trinity Centre,
Trinity Rd.,
Bristol,
BS2 0NW

eastsideroots@...

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength
that will endure as long as life lasts. (Rachel Carson)