30th November 2023

My Induction Tutorial day for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design with Jo Holleran.

Part of the induction process requires you to reflect on why you’re doing the Diploma, and what you want to achieve from it.

The simple answer is that right now, I can’t know where I’ll be in two years time, which is how long I hope to take to complete the Diploma, but I do know that I want to learn as much as I can about the Design process, and in particular, how to use that in wider scale contexts, rather than focussing only on gardening. That might sound a bit ‘wishy-washy’ but that’s how it is right now.

There are so many challenges facing us currently; climate crisis, wars, increasing cost of living, spiralling mental health, rapid loss of biodiversity, food security etc. that it would be very easy to get bogged down in the fear and hopelessness of it all. One of my major drivers is using permaculture as a tool for hope. When we take action, the power balance changes. We recognise that we do have possibilities and choices that CAN have a positive impact.

8 billion of us, pulling together, have the potential to change what can appear like insurmountable problems.

But I have to start with my first design… onwards and upwards!