Living Permaculture
Adventures in designing for Earth care, People care & Fairshares
November 2013
Design Process:
With such resistance, I felt that there were alot of boundaries which needed to be identified clearly and I was curious to see if there would be any usefull resources to help me along the way! For this reason I chose to use 'OBREDIMET' (Observe, Boundaries, Resources, Evaluate, Design, Impliment, Maintain, Evaluate, Tweak)I also felt that using a specific design framework would give me some helpful stepping stones to keep things rolling.
I began by brainstorming any observations around the challenge at foot, the context & the vision....
Vision: To create a quality portfolio that was enteraining, accessible & time efficient, I also hoped that it could be a learning opportunity for myself and others.
Contexts considered; Physical, Mental, Temporal & Spatial aspects.
Meanwhile, I chatted with the kind folk who frequent the Permaculture diploma facebook page, where I found support & inspiration, and I also visited some of their websites.
Methods:
I was reminded by fellow diplomee - Rakesh- about a computer mind mapping program called "Xmind". Rakesh used it to great effect in his portfolio which prompted me to revisit it myself. (I used the free version) Although I was/am very unwilling to spend time at the computer I felt that I had so many thoughts to document that the flexibility of 'cut & paste' would allow a faster response time that handwriting. In addition I could cross reference the different stages and continually add to them which was really helpfull and in effect changed the linear nature of the OBREDIMET emplate to a more web like & flexible design approach.
Boundaries & Resources:
I considered both boundaries & resources in categories: Material/Physical, Skills, Time, & Personal
The boundaries certainly were abundant, brainstorming them out helped me to see more specifically why I hadn't, up to this point done much documentation. Seemingly it was not only through my own resistance but also due to other circumstances like lack of personal space! An important resource that I hadn't tapped into thus far included the supportive network of fellow dipomees (online, but nonetheless helpful), and also (blush) the permaculture diploma handbook - which I now recommend for anyone doing the diploma to read! I also began to regard my own 'learning ability' as a resource...
Full details of the observation stage can be viewed here
Evaluation:
I knew I would need lots of motivation to get and keep this project rolling so I considered the expected & potential inputs & outputs of the project, I asked people around me to help with this as I was rather stuck for ideas in the outputs category, in the end though, there were plenty. It was helpful to get clear about the inputs required too, as the feeling of starting an endless project filled me with resistance! To see the whole analysis click here.
Use & Value the Edge.... Something seemingly insignificant - like a risk assessment on a permaculture portfolio project!- Can have a big effect on the overall picture.
Evaluation 2:
I also did a brief "risk assessment" at this point. You might be surprised to find that creating a permauclture diploma portfolio could be such a risky business! In actual fact, when I got down to it, there were less real risks than I had imagined, which reassured me somewhat ;-) Yet, as it seemed that some of these fears could be major limiting factors I would need to address them if I wanted to get the most out of the process. This being one of my most recent designs I have at least learnt that us humans can be the biggest limiting factor of all! To the principle of "yield limited only by the imagination & the information of the designer" I would add "and the will & self awareness of the designer!"
Evaluation 3: Functions!
Informed by the observation, the inputs & outputs & risk analysis, the project became multifunctional. I divided the functions into "process" & "content" as it became apparent that they were two seperate issues each with their own needs.
The 'process' part mainly focussed on myself & my surroundings whereas the "content" pârt focussed on the needs of people who might be exploring my work.
At this point I some of my reluctance started to fade and I began to feel the design might be worthwhile after all! I even began looking forward to some of the yields.
Click here to view the full 'Functions' mind map.
Design
So, once I had the functions clear it was time to start designing, whahey!
Alongside my usual "wild design" document, I began by taking a look at each function in turn & recording ideas of how I could fulfil that.
This process came up with loads of ideas... And also some more questions - about natural patterns for example, which then led me back to observation for a while. -Another example of the web-like interpretation of OBREIMET that I used. This higgledy piggledy mindmap of potential systems & elements can be viewed here.
Out of that I distilled 4 main design solutions (systems); A portfolio, A Web page, A timetable, A template. And within each of them many elements.
The full Design mind map can be viewed here.
This distillation process was where I called upon the permaculture principles & ethics to help me choose & develop appropriate solutions. Rythm, movement & motivation was a key theme in this design so I found the concepts of Zones & Sectors helpful to design both the layout of the finished portfolio and also my own energy, and my surroundings. This led to my decision to 'overwinter' this project. Turning a problem into a solution: long dark evenings and dreary weather into a permaculture diploma, (rather then a bout of seasonal affective disorder!)
Other key principles I found helpful in this
context were:
Accept feedback: Being on a seperate island from most other diplomees I have had little contact with them, not to mention a support guild. And thus, litle feedback, -at least regards diploma specific work. So, I want to engage more in the active permaculture diploma facebook page and also make more contact with Chris. I will also reflect onthe process myself as I go along, -after each project is documented- and tweak the design accordingly.
Obtain a Yield: Definately, a big one, for motivation, and for justification! The website will be accessible to potenial clients & collaborators with who I could work in future. It will also contain technical info which could be helpful for other people working on similar projects, and, will include reflctions on the diploma process aswell as my ALP design which could help other people doing the diploma.
Work from Pattern to Detail: The template I've created to help me doument each project efficiently can be viewed here. This should also help me (and visitors to the site) to achieve Maximum effect for Minimum effort.
Using the Ethics
Well, It's not the first time I've found the ethics to be a bit of a challenge!
People care & fairshares were pretty straightforward (maybe I'm being a bit superficial...)
But Earth care; Of all my projects, this one depends on a computer, the internet & all associations (energy use, mining, consumerism....) I explored afew options such as 'offsetting', and 'green web hosting' and found nothing very satisfactory.... So, Honestly? I'm planting trees.... as a penance! (some penance) although truthfully, I can't say for sure I wouldn't be planting them regardless.
My complete ethics mind map can be viewed here or by clicking the image below.
Tweaking:
I asked "what will I do differently for the next design?" (same mind map as above)
Even though I documenting this design has taken longer then I planned, I am not (yet) going to make any changes to the plan! This design was very text heavy whereas the next one I anticipate to be mainly photographic (plus I have much of the text written already).
Also, some of that time was spent getting to grips with the workings of this website -Action learning!- so, with the idea of heavy input at the beginning trailing off to lower inputs in mind I want to document & upload the next design before I make any generalisations about timings....
The other main issue here was the presentation. The 500 word 'summary' has clearly got a bit out of hand! So, in respect I have tailored the focus of the implimentation slightly....and the full evaluation mind map can be viewed here
The implementing of this design was based on the fact that I wanted to have an interim support tutorial with Chris sometime in January 2014, that way, I would do the bulk of the work over the darkest months. So I have given myself quite a tight schedule based on estimated timings for each design, and also on grasping for low hanging fruit! (accessible designs).
Again, the web, -I had a kind of 'work-in-progress' implimentation plan (mind map) which developed througout the whole process. This was in effect my initial to do list which eventually got upgraded into a more organised (and demanding!) spreadsheet which can be viewed here.
I used the spreadsheet to create a calendar of work, one which showed; dates, tasks, (estimated) time needed, resources needed, persons with whom I might need to spend time, and location of work.
It's really very helpful to have this organisation, together with the template things are going - not perfectly acccording to plan- but smoothly enough and it takes alot of the pressure off -but not totally off! (which was one function of the design!) I know what needs doing and how I am going to do it, It's just a matter of keeping the energy flowing :-)
Reflections on the Process:
Overal,l the use of afew different approaches together worked well & it i was helpfull to kind of combine them - OBREDIMET, Web style designing, and Action learning. This meant I had structure, and flexibility, and head and hands could work together.
I found that while I do tend to use the principles automatically it was also helpful to specifically refer to them to open up some oher perspectives.
Also, being a small solo project, with a finite lifetime helped to get things, including my motivation, off the ground wihout too much commitment phobia or clashing of value systems.
It was a fairly small simple design, overall, yet I learnt quite alot. I do wish I had learnt this so well alot of this nearer the beginning of my diploma!! The value of documentation and reflection together with action. Hopefully I have learnt it now anyway, and there is still time! I still have the food garden design & implementation underway, along with an action learning pathway which needs some stray ends tidying up and a look into the future post diploma lifetime so I can use these lessons there....
And Finally!!
I also self-assessed this design against the diploma criteria using the tutor assessment of individual design & feedback form.
It can be viewed here.
Evaluation:
I am evaluating the project against the aims as I impliment it. So once after every design. For that I'm simply using a format of "what's going well", "what's challenging" Overall it is going well simply by the fact that it's happening! The main challenges have been anticipated timing and presentation to any non-diploma related audiences...
(Full Evaluation mind map here)
Evaluation 2 here
Maintenance:
The maintenance needed is just the evaluation & tweaking during the implementation.
Tranforming an unruly diploma pathway into a permaculture diploma (amongst other things);
Permaculture Portfolio design
Need for the design:
On my diploma wanderings I must admit, I had regarded the 'designing the portfolio' design as a bit naff, how complicated could it be? But when I (recently!) came to this point of wanting to accredit, I had heaps (literally) of 'evidence (computer files, back of envolope scribbles, 'to do lists',testimonies, photos, ...), and a great reluctance to sort through & record it all.
After lengthy procrastination & many excuses (really, I can't overemphasize how unenthusiastic I
have been about this) I was spurred into a brief period of action during which I drew up a brief but
hopefull 'action plan'.... Whahey! After beginning to wade through a couple of the points in the action plan
however, I realised three main things. One; This amount of planning was only likely to support me (& my
motivation) until the next procrastination crisis (which could last up to a year!), Two; There was quite
alot of work to do and in return I could concievably gain more yields than just a diploma, and Three;
A proper Permaculture design could help me to do that.
