Permaculture and the social design of nature

Aiken, Gerald Taylor

doi:10.1080/04353684.2017.1315906

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Luxembourg's only regional currency Beki emerged in 2013, and the alternative food network Solidaresch Landwirtschaft Atert‐Wark (SoLaWa) was established in 2016. Beckerich hosts the Centre for Ecological Learning (CELL), which promotes bioregional resilience through applied projects and is the hub of the national Transition Town Network (for an outline of this aspect see Taylor Aiken, 2017b).…”

Section: Situating Réiden Within Community Initiatives For Socio‐ecological Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformative pragmatism: How a diversity of Leitbilder is harnessed for rural transformation in Réiden, Luxembourg

Doerr

Aiken

2021

Env Pol Gov

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This article attempts to further a geographical theory of socio‐ecological transformation. Understanding transformation has previously focused on regions, places, networks, or individual and collective spatialities as the unit of analysis pushing change. This article, by contrast, outlines the pragmatic function that individually and collectively held beliefs, goals, and purposes have. We call these guiding visions Leitbilder, and outline how they act as guiding lights, lodestars, that motivate, temper, and contain different people, groups, and initiatives. Where academic work exists here it is often voluntaristic, elective, focused on intentional, opt‐in communities and so tends towards studies of “usual suspects.” This paper by contrast, addresses those preforming radical environmentalist behavior, beyond a conscious or elective identity of being environmental. We do so by outlining the case of Réiden, Luxembourg. We present an in‐depth study of four transformative initiatives in different domains and, through Q‐method, outline their intricate, mutable, and catalytic interrelationships. We argue that to take proper account of the geography of transformation, the alignment of heterogenous Leitbilder in functionally diverse practice coalitions is crucial.

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Section: Situating Réiden Within Community Initiatives For Socio‐ecological Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformative pragmatism: How a diversity of Leitbilder is harnessed for rural transformation in Réiden, Luxembourg

Doerr

Aiken

2021

Env Pol Gov

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“…Surprisingly, PC is not only widely ignored by scientific research in general, but also in sustainability transition research (for a comprehensive analysis, why this is the case, see (Ferguson and Lovell 2014)). Permaculture's holistic nature and its inclusiveness of other approaches and philosophies see for example (Aiken 2017;Centemeri 2018;La Puig de Bellacasa 2010;Roux-Rosier et al 2018) makes it hard to grasp, what permaculture really is and what it stands for. As an example, most techniques permaculturists use did not originate within the permaculture milieu, but are rather adopted from other concepts (Ferguson and Lovell 2014).…”

Section: Permaculture's Role Within Transition Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding permaculturist motivations among residents of the “PermaKulturRaum” in Goettingen, Germany: a qualitative analysis

Petri

Faust

2020

SN Soc Sci

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By using an inductive qualitative approach, investigating the micro scale, that is, the individual level, we conducted a case study on the PermaKulturRaum in Goettingen, Germany—an experimental space for students to explore alternative lifedesigns. On the supposition that only a radical transition can achieve sustainability on a global scale, we identified permaculture as an appropriate method to achieve this. However, permaculture is not widely spread and largely ignored by scientific research. We started a first attempt to understand the underlying motivations of permaculturists. Using behavioral studies as our theoretical framework, we found out that behavioral determinants, like biospheric values, green-identity, and the intention to act green were extraordinarily high and that the core of their pro-environmental behavior is most likely their strong intrinsic motivation. Regarding the PermaKulturRaum, we could formulate following theses: (1) a comprehensive implementation of permacultural aspects requires an urge for an alternative lifedesign, (2) a radical lifedesign attracts primarily like-minded people, which creates isolated spaces, (3) early childhood experiences or single key moments are important to trigger a pro-environmental interest.

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“…But if we act as communities, it might be just enough, just in time' [35]. Commentators have variously interpreted Transition as a 'grassroots technological niche' [36], a practical working out of Deleuzean inspired politics [37], a permaculture-based social movement [38] or ethical place making [39]. Alternative readings emphasise Transition's focus on acceptability and accessibility over transformative political action [40,41].…”

Section: The Inconsistent Community Of Community Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus Transition have spun-off many initiatives such as local currencies [48], local food networks [49], and renewable energy schemes [3]. These are based upon this permaculture vision of community-small-scale, local and modular [38]. Yet crucially Transition's community also invokes belonging and practical action.…”

Section: The Inconsistent Community Of Community Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

One-way street? Spatiality of communities in low carbon transitions in Scotland

Aiken

2018

Energy Research & Social Science

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Community low carbon transitionsstudies of the ways in which community is used to pursue environmental aims and objectivesare closely linked to arrangements of energy production and use. Community is used as a way to pursue particular energy agendas. Yet, as is often pointed out, the trajectory of transitions imagined, the ambitiousness of the envisioned transformation, and especially the implied community invoked within this, all remain gloriously inconsistent. Within community transitions attention increasingly focuses on the tensions emerging or smoothed over as competing agendas are brought together through capacious words and concepts: for example between so-called top-down government deployed community, and so-called bottom-up emergent community action. This paper offers one way to explain and explore these tensions, where they come from and, thus, help in understanding ways in which they may be overcome. Using the case study of an attempt to target one 'street community's' environmental footprint in Scotland, the paper argues for taking an explicitly geographical and spatial lens to analyse these processes. The paper uses three forms of space-perceived space, conceived space, and lived space-to outline how three distinct but overlapping communities were spatialised. The contention of the paper is that tensions in community transitions often result from different spatial imaginaries, informing one's approach to, and 'common sense' understanding of, community. In reflecting on the spatial implications different forms of community produce (and are in turn produced by), the article argues for greater appreciation of the imbrication of space, community, and energy as mutually co-constitutive.

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Permaculture and the social design of nature

Cited by 21 publications

References 36 publications

Transformative pragmatism: How a diversity of Leitbilder is harnessed for rural transformation in Réiden, Luxembourg

Transformative pragmatism: How a diversity of Leitbilder is harnessed for rural transformation in Réiden, Luxembourg

Understanding permaculturist motivations among residents of the “PermaKulturRaum” in Goettingen, Germany: a qualitative analysis

One-way street? Spatiality of communities in low carbon transitions in Scotland

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