Joshua Lockyer. Pages 1-3 | Published online: 10 Feb 2017. Download citation http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2017.1289161. Figures & data. References.
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BOOK REVIEW
Permaculture and climate change adaptation: inspiring ecological, social, economic, and cultural responses for resilience and transformation Joshua Lockyer Pages 1-3 | Published online: 10 Feb 2017
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Before I started reviewing the content of this book in depth, I posed a number of general questions that I wanted to answer based on my own experience with and knowledge of permaculture: Do the authors effectively
complexity and nuance of permaculture thought and action? Does the book move beyond the how-to manual approach on home-scale permaculture that characterises so many books on the topic and analyse the theory and application of permaculture across different scales and contexts? Does the book engage permaculture with academic theory and, if so, do the authors address multiple disciplinary engagements? Given the book’s extensive focus on indigenous peoples, do the authors successfully address the tension that arises when practices based on traditional ecological knowledge are glossed with the modern, western label “permaculture”? And finally, is the book illustrated with clear, relevant examples that help the reader understand the complex, nuanced nature of permaculture theory and practice? I am pleased to report that I can largely answer in the affirmative to all of these questions, especially given the concise nature of the book. The basic aspirations of Permaculture and climate change adaptation are described on the back cover where it states that the book describes in broad terms how permaculture’s underlying philosophy and perspective on climate change complement those of formal science and indigenous knowledge, provides detailed descriptions of practical applications drawing on case studies from around the world, and considers how global responses can most effectively draw upon the unique contributions permaculture has to make. The authors’ varied backgrounds and complementary areas of expertise make them uniquely qualified to approach these aspirations. One author is a trained social scientist and the other is a trained environmental scientist. While both authors hold faculty positions at European universities, they have also collectively been involved in ecovillages, Transition Network
permaculture principles are put into practice. Their combined scholarly training and practical engagement reflect both the origins of permaculture in the work of Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and the essential nature of permaculture as a combined intellectual and hands-on engagement with the world. The structure and content of the book are well conceived, flowing from general introductions to main topics at the beginning, then digging into specific permaculture projects and examples in the middle, before zooming out to consider larger implications and future directions at the end. It also engages a range of academic thought but avoids a descent into the minutiae of academic theory and jargon that too often make scholarly works inaccessible to the general public. Opening chapters set the stage by describing the urgency of climate change and the context of the Anthropocene, including brief discussions of the history and genesis of the permaculture movement, and noting the need to build on nascent efforts to document the impacts of permaculture projects if permaculture is to become more effective in its aims and realise its potential to impact policy. The heart of the book – the chapters on “strategies” – contains a good progression of topics, broadening from the biophysical to the political economic to the socio-cultural much as a permaculture design course might move from concrete examples in the garden to views of how permaculture theory and practice can have broader transformative impact on individuals, society, and culture. In my view, the last two chapters on “future steps” are the weakest parts of the book. The second to last chapter is a set of recommendations for promoting more productive engagement between permaculture and climate policy and the last chapter is a reproduction of the “Climate Change Statement and Action Plan” developed at the 2015 International
placed as an appendix, leaving more space for elaboration on the recommendations in the former chapter. As the former chapter stands, it does not reflect the creativity, boldness, and urgency that the rest of the book and permaculture in general typically manifest. It is not that there is anything particularly wrong with recommendations such as “initiate and support research projects on the impacts, efficacy and potential wider applications of permaculture thinking and practice” (p. 89) or “introduce permaculture thinking into policy, strategy, planning, and action at all levels”; it is only that these are not specific enough and they do not go far enough as recommendations given the urgency of the current situation. But perhaps these are necessary preconditions before more truly transformative steps can be taken by permaculture practitioners and engaged scholars. For permaculture to reach its full potential in terms of addressing climate change, bolder steps such as cultivating relationships with financiers and academic institutions that will support widespread, systematic, interdisciplinary permaculture research and identifying municipalities or other political entities willing to incorporate permaculture design into their planning processes must be taken. I would have liked to see the authors push harder for even bolder “future steps” at the end of the book. However, this does not detract from their main message which is the need for more deliberate attention to and research on permaculture and its policy implications in the context of climate change. A few additional strengths of the book are notable. Complementing the unique backgrounds of the two main authors, an international group of scholarly and permaculture practitioner contributors listed in the front matter helps the book bridge the domains of scholarship, policy engagement, and personal, practical application. A good mix of citations in the endnotes highlights the works of scholars from various relevant disciplines and fields of scholarship along with the work of permaculture
comprehensive or up-to-date, they are relevant and often authoritative. Some of the sources cited in support of the successful impact of permaculture projects are not peer reviewed, but this only serves to reinforce the authors’ point about the need for more research focused on permaculture. In the endnotes, I found sources I was not aware of and many readers will find some real gems there to help guide further reading on topics that a book of this length can only touch on. There is a useful list of extra resources – permaculture organisations, publishers, books, and magazines – at the end of the book. While this list is not meant to be comprehensive, there are some curious omissions; for example the long extant Permaculture Activist magazine which has fairly extensively covered topics like climate change and permaculture research is left off the list of magazines, but this is a relatively minor oversight. As one could expect for a book of this nature, the paper is from Forest Stewardship Council certified sources and the pages have a very nice feel in the reader’s hands. Some other minor shortcomings of the book are also notable. For a book in its second printing, there were a half dozen or so very obvious typographical errors. The chapter on “energy descent” quickly strayed from its topic. An index would have been useful, but is not essential as the book is relatively short and concise. The lack of index is also offset as topic cross references are noted by the use of bold face terms throughout the heart of the book in the chapters on permaculture strategies. This, more than an index, reflects the truly integrated nature of the permaculture paradigm. There is a heavy focus in the book on examples from indigenous cultures and developing countries outside of European and American contexts; while this is a positive counterbalance to other permaculture works that overwhelmingly focus on the Global North, the relative dearth of European and American examples may give the uninformed reader the false impression that permaculture work is not widespread in these contexts.
weaker end than could have been possible. Again, these shortcomings are all relatively minor. In the introduction to our book on bioregionalism, permaculture, and ecovillages, my colleague James R. Veteto and I call for increasing collaboration among environmentally oriented scholars and the practitioners of these movements around the world in order to move beyond critique and “put forward work that is solution-focused rather than problem-oriented” (Lockyer and Veteto
2013, p. 2). Overall this book
makes a valuable contribution to this trajectory. It is a combined description of global permaculture movements, documentation of nascent research on the impacts of permaculture projects, and manifesto calling for greater collaboration among permaculture practitioners, scholars, and policy-makers in the urgent context of climate change and the Anthropocene. Despite this urgency, the authors manage to present an optimistic perspective, one that reflects the promise of permaculture for healing both people and planet and the potential for academic researchers to collaborate with permaculture practitioners to develop just and sustainable solutions to anthropogenic climate change and associated socio-environmental problems. This book is highly recommended reading for those interested in these topics, but it is only a starting point for the work to be done rather than a culmination of it.
Reference 1. Lockyer, J. and Veteto, J.R., 2013. Environmental anthropology engaging ecotopia: bioregionalism, permaculture, and ecovillages. New York: Berghahn Books. [Google Scholar]
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