A Permaculture Convergence is where Permaculture practitioners gather together. They exchange skills and experiences. They also get to know each other better and have a great time. The convergence usually consists of a series of workshops on various subjects. It includes presentations from Permaculture projects and discussion forums. There is also food, drink, and entertainment. Anyone and everyone is welcome to host a workshop or discussion and share their own skills.
This project demonstrates the application of Permaculture tools to the design of teaching workshops.
1. Workshop 1: Brexit Referendum debate
The ethics, principles and tools of Permaculture can be applied to across a broad spectrum of activities, from land based projects, organisations, projects, events and even life changing decisions. Whilst the Permaculture Association is not a party political organisation Permaculture tools can be used to help review political situations.
In this instance I wanted to use Permaculture tools to facilitate a discussion around the subject of Brexit, to help the attendees share their views and hear other disparate views ahead of casting their vote in the Brexit Referendum.
World Cafe format
To allow everyone the opportunity to discuss their views on a range of topics, I designed the debate using a World Cafe format. In this instance, there were three large “cafe” tables for discussions. Each table represented one of the Permaculture ethics: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. After a brief introduction to the topic of Brexit, the participants were invited to the tables. They were asked to apply the PMI (Plus, Minus and Interesting) strategy. This strategy helped them consider how EU membership affects the UK regarding Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Each table had a volunteer scribe to help facilitate the discussions and to take notes. The output of the dicussions is shown below.
EU membership vs Fair Share
EU Membership vs Earth Care
EU Membership vs People Care
Review
This workshop was one of the most energized of the Convergence. All participants were highly engaged. Very well-educated and argued discussions took place. At the start of the session, opinions were quite polarized. By the end, many people had learned new aspects. They had their minds broadened by the knowledge and viewpoints of others. Many preconceptions on both sides of the debate were challenged. In the end, most participants believed that neo-liberalism was the problem of the day. They were uncertain if challenging neo-liberalism would be harder or easier outside of the EU.
The feedback from the event was completely positive with many participants excited to see politics being discussed at Permaculture events.
I think it was useful that I was completely undecided beforehand which allowed me to ensure the questions were framed completely neutrally. Following the event I found myself much better informed but still undecided on the best way to vote at the referendum!
2. Knitting workshop
The Permaculture Convergence is all about sharing skills and knowledge. One of my skills that complements the Earth Care ethic is that of recycling old woollen items into new clothes via knitting. I used the Design Web to formulate my ideas for the workshop.
The Design
- Vision: to teach others basic knitting skills. This will allow them to create a small handmade item, like a wristband or friendship bracelet, on the day. We aim to motivate them to practice and try more interesting items at home.
- Helps: bring along large size needles and bulky wool so that participants see results quickly. Bring different coloured wool so that participants can choose something they like
- Limits: Casting on stitches is quite hard and can be off-putting. Have each set of needles already set up with the stitches cast on. This way, students can start knitting straight away. First, teach the basic knitting stitches. Do a few rows to make the wristband. Next, learn to cast off. Finally, learn to cast on. Limit size of class to 8 students to allow enough 1-2-1 time for sorting problems.
- Ideas: Use Pinterest and Youtube to find easy items for beginners to make, and easy instructions
Principles
- Obtain a yield: make sure the participants can make a small item in the time allowed so that they have something to take home (yield).
- Produce no waste: reuse wool from old jumpers and make sure item that is made is useable.
- Observe and interact: limit size of class to give the opportunity to observe and interact with every participant.
- Use the edges: the venue for the workshop was in the central lobby, which attracted participants who were previously aware of the workshop. This had an added bonus of acquiring an additional experienced knitter who was also able to coach the participants.
Review
The workshop was fun to run and generated a lot of positive feedback from the participants. The fact that we were all able to sit around one table encouraged friendly chat and banter and everyone was able to learn from everyone else. Everybody was able to complete their friendship bracelet and wear it with pride for the remainder of the convergence, and were happy to have learned a new skill.