Living Permaculture
Adventures in designing for Earth care, People care & Fairshares
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Design Notes
Community Skillshare Network
Sligo/Roscommon
December 2011 - April 2012
My initial thoughts & beginning of the design. I possibly underestimated the boundaries, and in future would like to consult with said 'community' to do more accurate observation. I have mixed feelings about this project, sometimes It seems like it was a bit of a lazy, impatient design, & I'm embarrassed about it! Other times I see that perhaps it was also more than anything, an intuitive, automatic design which flowed easily and responded to a call on time.
I reflected on the permaculture principles. Certain permaculture principles seemed to be appropriate to help suggest ways of bringing the project into being.
The project filled a need, friendships deepened, skills were shared, the network grew, from the relationships that it helped to develop, people have gone on to work together on other projects. I'm feeling quite inspired to organise some more skillshares, remembering the lovely atmosphere we worked in together. I've learnt many lessons from this; practical & design related. It's something which could be rekindled & redesigned with those lessons in mind.
My initial thoughts & beginning of the design. I possibly underestimated the boundaries, and in future would like to consult with said 'community' to do more accurate observation. I have mixed feelings about this project, sometimes It seems like it was a bit of a lazy, impatient design, & I'm embarrassed about it! Other times I see that perhaps it was also more than anything, an intuitive, automatic design which flowed easily and responded to a call on time.
Click on image for expanded view & full commentary
Reviewing
2 years on... December 2013
I liked the 6 Hats method of reviewing, so I'll use it again here for some more recent reflections on what the successes, failures, & lessons of this project.
Blue: Well that's me I guess...
What are the facts? well, we had 4 skillshare events, over 4 months, Process: I used Obredimet, combined with a 'rolling permaculture' design approach.
Emotional feelings.... I feel dissapointed in this project, and I feel a bit embarressed at the naivety and impatience of the design, I feel a bit disengenuois even including it in the portfolio. I also feel greatfull & humbled to have the time & opportunity to reflect on it & learn so much.
Content: I also feel inspired & encouraged remembering the ease of organising these small events.
Weak points.... I've already highlighted what I see as the main weak points (in the process slideshow above). I didn't spend enough time observing, and my observations were not inclusive enough, The whole process was not transparent enough (it was like behind the scenes, resulting in assumptions being made), I didn't have a maintenance plan so the system establishlent was unsupported, I didn't give enough deailed thought to considering creative ways of supporting each function.
Optimistic response, Benefits.... The project got up & running quickly, It functioned well & feedback was mostly very good, people learnt new skills & some people incorperated those skills into their life & work. Friendships deepened, People met other similar minded folk, These connections stood to us in other projects eg: the permaculture gathering. The main functions were somewhat fulfilled, The rolling permaculture approach worked quite well, I have learnt alot from being involved in the project. (including some practical skills) There is an opportunity to organise some more small workshops this spring eg: grafting.
Creative Solutions.... Well, I don' really have the time & energy available at the moment to revisit this specific project, other than organising/hosting this grafting workshop with some friends. But the lessons learnt can be applied in other work that I get involved in.
Self Assessment: I self assessed this design using individual design tutor feedback form. You can view it here.
Process used: OBREDIMET
Tools used:
O:
B:
R:
E:
D:
I:
M:
E:
T: