Permaculture Design Course Handbook WEB OF LIFE
Net of functional Relationships Design/Ecosystem
SINK
Diversity is related to stability. It is not, however, the number of diverse elements you can pack into a system, but rather the useful connections you can make between these elements. From source to sink: - diversity increases. - energy stores increase - organisational complexity increases. The Chaos or Disorder Principle : If resources are added beyond the capacity of the system to productively use them, then that system becomes disordered (goes into chaos) Odum Chaos or disorder is the opposite of harmony, as competition is the opposite of co-operation. in disorder, much useful energy is cancelled out by the use of opposing energy, thus creating entropy or bound energy. Society, gardens, whole systems and human lives are wasted in disorder and opposition. The aim of the designer is therefore two-fold: • To use only that amount of energy that can be productively :absorbed by the system. -To build harmony, as cooperation, into the functional organisation of the syster.;. Methodologies of design Permaculture design emphasises patterning of landscape, function, and species assemblies. It asks the question, "Where does this (element) go? How is it placed for maximum benefit in the system?" Permaculture is made up of techniques and strategies: • Techniques : concerned With How to do Things (one-Dimensionally) e.g. organic gardening. • strategies : concerned with how and when ;two-Dimension; e.g. Fukuoka system. • Design : with, patterning (multi-dimensional)) e.g. Permaculture.