permaculture

10 Facilitator’s Handbook for Permaculture Workshops

Initial introductory meeting with local community leaders

The starting point of any Permaculture workshop is to meet with local community

leaders, such as the village head, leaders of religious groups, and men and women from

influential local families. Encourage the attendance of as many high-status women as

possible at this first meeting.

Once you gain the support of these community leaders, the Permaculture

workshop will have a much better chance of success.

Open introductory meetings by introducing yourself and explaining your motivation for

delivering the Permaculture workshop in the area. If you are a member of an NGO or

other organization, give a brief background about your organization’s vision, mission,

and activities to date.

Explain that Permaculture is a multi-level approach to sustainable agriculture and

community development that will support local family ethics, cultural practices, and

community ways of life, and in no way undermine them.

Talk about Permaculture’s focus on:

• Long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency.


• Farming methods that improve yields.


• Education that improves family health and quality of life.


• Cooperative and group solutions.


• Designs for improving housing and public spaces.

Take this opportunity to also explain the positive benefits of educating women

in Permaculture, for example:

• Increasing women’s knowledge about soil, planting, harvesting, and nutrition
  will mean better and more plentiful food for local families. Better food will mean
  stronger husbands and wives, smarter children, and healthier elderly.


• Teaching women about waste management and water conservation will help to
  preserve local resources, save costs, and reduce labor in the community.

If village leaders are going to give practical and moral support so that men and women

have an equal opportunity to attend the training, they will need to see that Permaculture

techniques work better than methods already in use. Take them to see demonstration

gardens or projects if they are available in the area. Invite them to ask questions and to

let you know their main agricultural and livelihood development concerns and objectives

for their community.

Ask them to give you a tour of the village and make your own observations of the

conditions of the land, houses, and public spaces to supplement the information they

share with you.