There are an increasing number of people are learning and applying permaculture in Chicagoland area.
For someone who has no idea, Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the symbiotic relationships found in the nature. It was first developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s. Like many of the people at the time who began observing the profound impact modern civilization was having on the planet, they concluded that the path we were on was unsustainable. They proved to be well ahead of their time. Like the solar panels Ronald Reagan removed from the Whitehouse roof, permaculture was pushed to the side as the world economy gorged on cheap energy, chemical fertilizer, pesticides and easy credit.
We have now reached a point where perhaps a majority of people recognize that we must change our ways and many of them want to learn what they can do. Midwest Permaculture has created courses to help people learn how they can make those adjustments. The Urban and Suburban Permaculture course was developed by Bill Wilson and his wife Rebecca as part of a growing body of courses offered by Midwest Permaculture. His own life journey is mirror of what the course teaches and he shares it generously during the 4 days. He grew up in suburban Chicago and made his living as a long distance truck driver for many years before finding himself questioning the trajectory of his life. Several years ago, faced with some tough economic choices he and his wife chose to make the leap to becoming full time educators.
Participants in the course come from a wide range of backgrounds: college professors, grad students in environmental engineering, business owners, demographers, landscapers, teachers, chemical engineers and furniture makers. People’s reasons for taking the course are equally diverse, some people wanted to learn how to become a gardener while some people looking to create a new career.
The course is designed to incorporate real world examples of people applying permaculture principles in all kinds of settings all over the world. Examples include people raising all of their own food in a suburban lot, using passive water catchment to green the desert without pumping water to growing bananas in a passive solar greenhouse at 7,000 feet in the Rockies and insulating a year round Northern Ontario greenhouse with soap bubbles. They are all real world examples of things that people are doing right now to create a life and a living that is sustainable. Experts also deliver sections of the course via the internet and are available for a live Q&A with the participants in the course. Outside of the classroom there are also ‘walkabouts’ participants are encouraged to observe our environment and the natural systems at work and consider the designs we could create in our own homes or communities. People have a chance to share ideas and get feedback from others in the course in a creative and non-judgmental setting.
The real objective of the course is to inspire people with new ideas in a time of significant change.
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