Permaculture Design Basics: Utilize and Respond to Change

Permaculture design is founded on the basis of 12 key design principles (See What is Permaculture for a full list). No matter where you are in life, what resources you have available, and what lifestyle you live, these 12 design principles provide a framework for solving problems, working with nature, and creating spaces that are resilient and adaptive. In this series, I will go through each of the 12 permaculture design principles, explain what they mean, and share some ideas about how they can be applied to someone beginning a permaculture journey while living in a rented apartment. Check in over the coming weeks to learn about each of the principles and gain new ways of thinking about the spaces you create, wherever you might live!

Permaculture Design Basics 12 – Utilize and Respond to Change

As we get to the twelfth and final permaculture design principle – Utilize and Respond to Change – we reflect on a lesson that is very appropriate for my final post of 2020. Coming out of a year that has been defined by change and unexpected events, from the emergence of COVID to series of lockdowns, quarantines, and the development of a “new normal,” we are reminded of the fact that the only thing constant in life is change. The same is true in permaculture design, and by working with change rather than against it we can find a more harmonious existence with the world around us.

Cyclical Progression & New Beginnings

It can be easy at times to view progress as a linear process. We observe our surroundings, seeking to understand the many systems at play, and eventually we enact a change that we hope will bring about a more bountiful future. In that moment of action, we welcome the changes we planned for and expect. However, nature and our lives are not dead, static systems, and the changes we make are never truly permanent. Time will always do its work and introduce new challenges and opportunities. Our job as permaculture designers is to work creatively and constructively with this change to continue the work of regeneration and to steward our dynamic environment as it morphs and evolves alongside us.

It makes sense that this is the last of the twelve permaculture design principles, because it highlights a completion of the design cycle and a return to the first principle – Observe and Reflect. When change manifests in your designs, it is not a sign of failure in creating a permanent solution. Rather it is simply an indication that the time has come for you to reevaluate the system, learn about it even more deeply, and find ways to make it even better. This might mean modifying or expanding the things that have worked, and it might mean letting go of the things that no longer serve a purpose.

Ecological Progression as a Model for Constructive Change

Ecological progression is a natural source of inspiration for this principle. You can think of a mountainside that has just been burned by a terrible forest fire, reducing it to ashes and raw earth. This state might last a season or two, but very quickly grasses and fast-growing shrubs will appear and create a new ecosystem home to small animals like rabbits and foxes. Then, some adventurous tree species like birches might appear and begin to poke their way up from the underbrush. Eventually they grow and shade out the forest floor in patches, changing the ecosystem so that grasses die back. As the grasses die back, even larger, more slow-growing trees like oak trees can begin to take root, and over a few decades, the oaks will grow to shade out the birches and create an old growth forest. This mature ecosystem might remain relatively stable for hundreds or years, but even within these time frames the animals and plants that compose the forest will flux and shift. Eventually, given enough time, another fire will burn through and the cycle will repeat. None of the states lasts forever and change is constant, but each step plays an important role that sets the stage for the next progression.

Working with Change

The same is true in the systems we inhabit. Whether we’re talking about a backyard garden, a career, or a community, both expected and unexpected changes are an inevitability. The role of the permaculture designer is not to lament these changes and resist them, but rather to find the ways in which these changes set the stage of the next cycle of life. This the the archetypal process of death and rebirth, and though it is human nature to mourn the loss of things we once held dear, times of change can also be the most exciting, as things that were previously impossible become possible if we simply open our eyes and look.

Utilizing Change in an Apartment

If you’re living in an apartment or other rented space, change might take place more rapidly and more often for you than for those living their entire life on a single plot of land which their family has owned for generations. You might get a new landlord, move, get a new neighbor, or encounter some new rules. Any one of these changes has the potential to disrupt your plans for practicing permaculture, but they can also be catalysts for growth. You might move to a new home that doesn’t have any outdoor space, which changes your plans for a garden, but that might be the first step in encouraging you to work with a local church or organization to start a community food garden. The goal is to adapt and keep an eye open for new possibilities, and you’ll start to understand that your permaculture journey is strengthened, rather than set back, by new challenges.

Tying It All Together

The final permaculture design principle brings us right back to the first, reminding us that while change is inevitable, it simply marks a new beginning. Rather than striving to keep things the same forever, permaculture designers flow with the waves of change that life brings about to find a path forward, no matter how many twists and turns might be along the way.