A pilot project to maximise

b) identify, value, dignify, celebrate & disseminate the great (but often unknown) work that many permaculture designers (individuals or teams) are doing around the world, including those which are not (necessarily) connected to a local or regional existing Institute, any group or organization, nor (necessarily) publishing their work (perhaps because they're too busy doing it);

c) help permaculturists to communicate with each other across geographical boundaries.

Why is it needed?

Permaculturists need to be able to communicate who they are and what they do. They can then support each other to develop their work, then inform others looking for solutions.

“What permaculture designers are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet.

We don´t know what will be the details of a truly sustainable future,

but we need options,

we need people experimenting all types of forms

and permaculture designers are one of the crucial groups who are doing this."

Dr David Suzuki

This continues the great PC tradition of people-centred work: the idea is that it be just like a great international permaculture conference, but without the the big journeys: come and meet everyone, find out who´s doing what, start or continue the conversations, then decide who you´d like to visit at their projects and hug in person later.

With time, as we design good protocols for such an International Institute, with the synergy produced we can:

1) colaborate much better across geografical and culture barriers (access information and colaborations for our projects, not re-invent wheels, etc.), exemplifying our directives of self-responsability and cooperation .. to do our job of creating a sustainable planet a lot better, quicker, more elegantly ..

2) build relationships and effectiveness as a world movement (more connected but not centralized)

3) possibly access more resources together, and direct them more effectively

4) keep knowing each other as much as possible PERSONALLY (one of the great strengths of the PC 'family' is how personal it is) however big we become as a network

5) and also knowing our history (a community needs to know its history .. and this can´t easily be passed on orally once we're this big) ... see (and contribute to, please) the Pioneers page; most new permaculturists don´t know the stories of these (and other) wonderful giants we stand on the shoulders of

6) cooperate - well - by DE-SIGN and not risk competing - badly - by DE-FAULT

(So please DO sign-up to the working group moving this if you care about these things)

7) explore the technologies for creating more fertile connexions and fertile edges between people and organizations

How does it work?

In the Profiles page you can see what an initial page of such an Institute might look like: very short introductions which you can investigate by clicking on the names individually .. and designers edit their own pages as they wish. This is a very general and fairly random page (done just after IPC8, many profiles have been added since), but the designers can later be 'classified' in any way we wish, eg. by Continent, Bioregion or Area of Investigagion. (in the spanish version for eg. we already have "working groups" starting: all is an experiment) (Putting up your own page gets you 10 Permies' ... ThePermis page is being translated, which will explain what our new currency is about)

There is a Pioneers page which starts to collects the designers who have started off permaculture in their respective countries, or have made significant contributions to the furthering of permaculture globally (you get 20Permies for setting up the page of a pioneer)

In the Comunication you can see how we are dialoguing over the various aspects of this pilot and how you can participate (at different levels)

The DesignOfPilot pages are specifically for the Designers Group to keep everyone interested informed on the design ideas and progress of the Institute organization so far. Active designers get Permies also, for their positive contributions to the design. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS DESIGN IS OWNED AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE BY THE PERMACULTURE WORLD COMMUNITY - so take ownership, you´re very invited to do so.

This design came about originally from dialogues about how to improve the DiplomaProcess, so on this page you can see some of it´s history.

Design of the CPI

If you have fast internet connexion you can now download

the presentation given at IPC8 on this design here > > 0InstituteDesign.pdf

Note that this Institute is BEING INVENTED NOW. (see NEWS page for how it´s progressing )

If you see something that could be done better, anything that could be explained a lot better ... that probably means you´re the best person to do it! Say so, and we would especially apreciate having you and your ideas in the DesignOfPilot Group.

Do come be part of the innovations team: just send a blank email to DesignersPCInstitute-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (the only criteria are to have a PDC and to have an interest in furthering this project)

You will be welcomed into the designers group (only a couple of hours per month of attention is required - we are all very busy with x other projects too)