[Ccpg] Travels in Permaculture By Andrew Jones

Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson lakinroe at silcom.com
Tue May 6 10:02:52 PDT 2003


Travels in 
Permaculture 
http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_34/dear_gardeners.asp
                        By Andrew Jones

                        I first came into contact with the work of Bill 
Mollison and David
                        Holmgren, the founders of the permaculture 
movement, on an
                        organic farm northeast of Cairns, Australia in 1987.

                        Two years later, while studying in Europe, I 
attended the annual
                        Schumacher lecture in Bristol, England where Bill 
Mollison was
                        one of four speakers. When I introduced myself to 
Bill as a fellow
                        Aussie, he queried in his typical irreverent 
fashion: "What are you
                        doing in this miserable cold place? You should go 
home and plant
                        trees."

                        In 1992, at the age of 26, a sense of adventure led 
me to sign a
                        contract with CARE Australia to work in the north 
of Iraq. Little
                        did I expect that three years later, I would return 
to Australia
                        with my new bride - Galawezh. We undertook postgraduate
                        studies in Australia, followed by further work with 
CARE in
                        Canberra, Laos, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea.

                        My initial six years of aid/development related 
work emphasized
                        the challenge of building sustainability into the 
core of such work.
                        Much of my experience was with complex humanitarian 
emergencies and
                        disaster relief, where the focus is often on 
short-term support to assist
                        distressed populations. The transition from aid to 
development often highlights
                        the gulf between short-term and long-term 
philosophical approaches to building
                        food security and community sustainability. The 
urgency of providing aid often
                        drives us to build structurally unsustainable 
systems. And yet, even when
                        circumstances allow us to design and implement 
long-term programs for
                        development, we often fail to address the issue of 
ecological sustainability.
                        Permaculture related ideas remained in the back of 
my mind during this time but
                        I needed more knowledge. It felt as though I had 
been getting increasingly
                        skilled at identifying structural problems 
(looking) without an integrated
                        framework for proposing solutions (seeing). In late 
1998, I started looking for
                        available permaculture courses.

                        Permaculture: Study at the Permaculture Research 
Institute (PRI)

                        In March 1999, I arrived in northeast New South 
Wales, Australia, to meet
                        Geoff Lawton, the Director of the Permaculture 
Research Institute and his
                        energetic staff. Permaculture teaching follows 
broad course content
                        requirements identified by Bill Mollison. The 
72-hour Permaculture Design
                        Course (PDC) is designed to provide a framework for 
students to orient their
                        experiences and problems, along with key areas for 
understanding how to begin
                        developing solutions. Information is structured 
broadly around the chapters of
                        Bill Mollison's Permaculture Designer's Manual to 
include both ethical and
                        design concepts, design methods, climatic factors, 
water, soils, earthworks,
                        climates, aquaculture, and invisible structures 
like bioregional organization and
                        ethical investing.

                        Geoff's presentation of permaculture precepts, 
ideas and generally outlined
                        solutions struck an immediate chord with me. Like 
many PDC graduates, the
                        immediate question was how most effectively to 
follow up on the new
                        knowledge?

                        During the post PDC on-ground training camp, I 
gradually began to see the
                        landscape around me in terms of patterns. A food 
forest as just a collection of
                        plants began to differentiate into a layering of 
species from tubers and
                        groundcover, up through shrubs and different levels 
of trees, through to the
                        overstorey or canopy species. Within the mix, 
legumes were discernable in their
                        strategic importance to fix nitrogen from the 
atmosphere. I also began to see
                        the wider landscape in terms of a broader 
interaction of forces - water, wind,
                        sunlight, and geology. It dawned on me that 
"looking" and "seeing" are different
                        skills and that part of seeing patterns in the 
landscape was a pointer to seeing
                        the patterns of solutions where we fail to address 
these fundamental
                        considerations.

                        Macedonia
                        I returned to work with CARE in April 1999, while 
the situation in Macedonia
                        was getting serious. Within several weeks, hundreds 
of thousands of refugees
                        from Yugoslavia flooded into this small country and 
neighboring Albania. CARE
                        International was one of the key non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs)
                        working to provide relief and protection. Of a 
total refugee population of
                        260,000, 150,000 were housed with host families, 
and 110,000 were directed
                        to 8 campsites within Macedonia. In May of 1999, I 
took over as Camp
                        Manager of Cegrane refugee camp, the largest in the 
country.

                        May is early summer in the
                        Balkans, and it was already very
                        hot in the camp, which was
                        situated on a mountainside
                        directly abutting the village of
                        Cegrane/Forino. The site had
                        been hastily prepared and quickly
                        outgrew its initial boundaries. I
                        arrived to crisis conditions as the
                        camp's population swelled to
                        roughly 30,000 people, far
                        exceeding its planned capacity of
                        5,000. Bus convoys from the
                        border arrived nightly bearing
                        more refugees. Numerous NGOs,
                        along with UN and Macedonian
                        government agencies operated
                        within the camp. My role as Camp Manager was akin 
to being unelected mayor,
                        principally involving information management, issue 
resolution between
                        stakeholders, and above all, keeping food and 
services flowing to the residents
                        of a tented town. We had a team of roughly 150 
international, local and refugee
                        workers engaged with CARE alone.

                        With a mountain bike as my official vehicle, I 
quickly came to grips with the
                        fundamental issues in the camp. In order to prepare 
the site, the German
                        military had cut a series of terraces up the side 
of the mountain. These formed
                        roads or bases for tents. The stony soil was being 
augmented by truckloads of
                        gravel from a nearby quarry to provide some 
traction and drainage. Lined pit
                        latrines and shower blocks were being provided, 
along with cold rations for three
                        meals per day. The site had a natural drainage 
channel through the center--the
                        continuation of a valley stream path. During 
rainfall events the site was flooded
                        through the center from the valley draining the 
mountain system above. The
                        floodwaters ended up in the main street of the 
village and flooded the local
                        primary school. En route, the waters washed out 
tents and caused a lot of
                        misery to refugee families.

                        The initial focus of our work was to ensure the 
flow of services. However, once
                        NATO forces re-entered Kosovo, large numbers of 
refugees from Macedonia and
                        Albania voluntarily repatriated themselves. As 
refugees began returning home,
                        I started to think about the site and its future. 
The land had originally been used
                        for growing grapes; then as the soil was depleted 
it grew wheat. Further
                        degradation led to its use by the community for 
rough grazing. This is the point
                        at which it became a refugee camp. I thought about 
what could be done to
                        ensure the site's future value to the community, 
whereupon I shared my
                        thoughts with Geoff Lawton and asked if he thought 
we could showcase a
                        permaculture site rehabilitation.

                        Cegrane Camp Permaculture Rehabilitation Project
                        Geoff agreed that the site was a good candidate for 
permaculture rehabilitation,
                        as well as perhaps for a teaching center for 
permaculture in the region. The idea
                        had broad support from the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees
                        (UNHCR) consultant working on physical 
infrastructure for the region. CARE
                        funded Geoff's visit, on the basis that his design 
would be the foundation for a
                        significant project. Geoff made a two-week trip in 
which we attended the first
                        meeting on refugee site rehabilitation between 
UNHCR, the Macedonian
                        authorities, NGOs, and donor representatives. Geoff 
spoke about the possibility
                        of permaculture, people were intrigued and asked if 
we could have a plan within
                        the time set for the next meeting in ten days. We 
agreed.

                        Geoff worked hard with a
                        translator to learn about the local
                        agriculture and culture, as well as
                        walking and riding all over the site
                        in order to begin to envision a
                        design. Our subsequent
                        presentation showed a colorful
                        vision of what the site could
                        become. It was powerful, and
                        Geoff gave a 20-minute
                        explanation. At the end of our
                        presentation, there was silence .
                        Then, Patty Culpepper,
                        representative of the State
                        Department's Bureau of
                        Population, Refugees and
                        Migration spoke up. "This is just
                        the kind of thing donors should support; it will 
stand as a symbol of
                        sustainability in modern times". She backed her 
verbal support with cash, as did
                        the Austrian Government. Together they provided 
roughly $1.3 million dollars
                        for the first three phases of a planned five-phase 
project. Additional support
                        came from UNHCR and NGOs that were involved on the 
site.

                        Geoff's design was based on a topographic survey of 
the site. It also
                        incorporated the ideas and interests of many 
parties, including the local
                        community and all the agencies that had worked to 
provide services in the
                        camp. The design included several key features. 
Permaculture design begins
                        with consideration of fundamental influences on any 
site, so water and slope
                        were important factors. To relieve the pressure of 
valley fed water flows, Geoff
                        incorporated a significant system of swales. These 
are large ditches running on
                        contour, designed to intercept water flowing 
downhill and hold it until it can
                        re-absorb into the soil. The bank on the lower side 
of the swale becomes a
                        planting mound. Due to subsurface water, this area 
tends to be a wetter
                        microclimate than the surrounding land, providing a 
good platform for biological
                        growth.

                        The swales designed for the site were very large; 
those at the top were over 10
                        feet deep, with overflow and flood spillways to 
ensure adequate capacity to
                        divert any floodwater runoff. As in any good 
design, they swales were created to
                        provide, not just for average events, but for 
outlying events such as the 50 - or
                        100-year storm that can destroy a system designed 
only for averages. Since
                        detailed rainfall data for the area was not 
accessible, Geoff hiked up the valley,
                        noting high water lines in the vegetation from past 
flooding, then calculated
                        peak event water flows down the valley. The final 
design called for 7.2 km of
                        swales, with an estimated water holding capacity of 
30 million liters.

                        Additional features of the design were a cluster of 
passive solar design
                        buildings on the lower portion of the site near the 
village to be used for a
                        permaculture center and local community activities. 
Surrounding these, gardens
                        laid out according to permaculture design 
principles would showcase the
                        potential to use guild plantings, mulch, and 
polyculture designs to enhance local
                        family garden productivity. Surrounding this zone 
was a "food forest," a mixed
                        planting of locally available fruit tree species. 
Going up the hill to the outer
                        zones 4 and 5, were planned mixed tree belts along 
swales with interzone
                        grasses and herbs to eventually support limited 
livestock grazing . The tree
                        belts were to be planted into timber and flowering 
species to provide structural
                        lumber and nectar flows for beekeeping. All 
planting areas included nitrogen
                        fixing legume species to assist in building soil 
fertility.

                        Once the final proposals were presented to donors, 
funding followed. The project
                        was carried out under the guidance of a core 
management team comprised of
                        Paul Brant and several Australian permaculture 
specialists. The earthworks
                        were a challenge, and an earthworks specialist , 
Richard Belfield was contracted
                        to oversee their construction. The land was 
surveyed and contour lines marked.
                        Bulldozers and diggers were sourced. And the work 
began in earnest.

                        Dave Clark came on as site manager, and stayed 
through to the end of phase
                        three. Brooke Watson took the mantle from Paul 
Brant as Project Manager for
                        phase two through phase three. Additional skills 
and expertise came from
                        trusted local staff, many of whom had worked with 
us in the camp during the
                        refugee activities. Their leadership and ability to 
negotiate the local culture and
                        politics were critical to the project's success.

                        The Cegrane team successfully completed the 
earthworks before winter set in.
                        The terraforming was impressive. It had a pattern 
that confirmed a harmony of
                        design with the landscape. Flooding of the village 
of Cegrane ceased as the
                        swales went in. Along with earthworks went planting 
of trees and seeds (a
                        perimeter fence and ditch kept out goats). As 
winter set in, the first
                        permaculture course was held in English for the 
project staff. Phase one was a
                        clear success, and on the second day after the last 
swale was completed, it
                        began snowing.

                        Winter was a time to focus on
                        education. Following the first
                        course, several translators were
                        selected for the next courses, to
                        be taught by Geoff and Sindhu
                        Lawton. Out of respect for local
                        customs, separate men and
                        women's courses were developed.
                        In the spring, the first course in
                        Albanian, was taught by Gazmend
                        Fetahi. A permaculture architect
                        was employed on the project to
                        help design the site structures,
                        and to train a local architect in
                        straw-bale building techniques
                        and oversaw initial small projects
                        to familiarize people with the processÑfoundations, 
a moisture barrier, wood
                        frame, stacking the bales, wiring the walls, and 
rendering the structure to
                        protect the straw from moisture and insect/pest 
attack.

                        The project employed over 100 staff during the 
second phase, and included a
                        management process involving the local authorities. 
There were plenty of
                        issues to resolve, but progress was being made. A 
children's garden was
                        completed, and a chicken tractor, entrance way 
fence and the peace pond and
                        statue were in place. The local craftsmen were 
quickly coming to terms with the
                        straw bale medium for building, and our women's 
teams were showing the men
                        up. One of the clear policies of the project was to 
provide employment
                        opportunities for local women.

                        United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

                        At the end of August 1999, the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees
                        invited me to work as their Camp Rehabilitation 
Consultant. I continued in this
                        role for nine months, and was able to give 
strategic support to the Cegrane
                        rehabilitation project along the way. During this 
time, I was responsible for
                        planning rehabilitation activities for all nine 
refugee campsites in Macedonia, as
                        well as oversight of a program of Quick Impact 
Projects (QIPS). These were
                        funded DIFID (British Overseas Aid and Development 
Department) and
                        UNCHR. In my nine months, we allocated a total of 
over $2 million to projects in
                        refugee affected areas. These were administered in 
partnership with OXFAM and
                        we successfully completed a total of 112 projects 
across the country. These
                        ranged from school repairs to small-scale income 
generation projects and were
                        implemented through both international and local 
organizations, as well as local
                        government.

                        At the end of June 2000 the Cegrane project was 
beginning its third phase.
                        Local management of the project was enhanced and 
significant success had
                        been achieved through the teaching of permaculture 
courses locally. In July I
                        joined the Cegrane project team to help develop 
small business ideas for the
                        site to help generate much needed income. My day 
started up the hill working
                        physically for a couple of hours, then morphed into 
the office. A library was
                        taking shape and other features of the site were 
also developing.

                        We had large numbers of tomatoes ripening from a 
couple of acres of
                        commercial test gardens laid out on the site--the 
total harvest for the season
                        was over five tons. Nobody believed it could be 
done on such a site. We
                        experimented with drying tomatoes and packing them 
in olive oil. I carried
                        cases of fresh organic tomatoes to sell to the UN 
and other international
                        agencies based in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. 
In the height of summer,
                        tomatoes in Macedonia are practically worthless as 
so many are grown locally.
                        Dried tomatoes on the other hand are light and high 
value, especially if sold into
                        EU markets - hence our trial.

                        A suite of services and activities was developed to 
provide a diverse income
                        stream from the site and employ a core staff that 
had proven themselves during
                        our work together. Our funding for phase three was 
to end in November, and this
                        was the mid-point of a planned three-year project. 
It was difficult to explain to
                        local stakeholders that the money was not secure 
for the whole project, but that
                        we were trying. In the meantime, the library 
building was nearing completion,
                        and the benefits of its passive -solar design were 
immediately obvious. It was
                        cool, even on the hottest days due to the straw 
bale insulation qualities. These
                        same qualities would serve well to keep the 
buildings warm in the winter.

                        Lessons from United Nations Environment Program

                        In September 2000, I was approached by UNHCR to 
join a United Nations
                        Environmental Program assessment team visiting 
Macedonia and Albania. Our
                        assignment was to consider the effect of the 
refugee crisis on the environment
                        12 months later, and assess industrial hot-spots 
and institutional capacity for
                        environmental management.

                        The trip highlighted how much energy is focused on 
the emergency component
                        of such situations, and how fast the money dries up 
afterwards. Full life-cycle
                        planning for refugee facilities is the ideal - 
where environmentally stable
                        designs are integrated with facilities that can be 
easily reused after the crisis.
                        The foundation for such an approach is considering 
the landscape right from the
                        start. Had the Cegrane campsite, for example, 
integrated swales from the
                        beginning, much time, money, and misery would have 
been saved. Other
                        important issues identified were solid and human 
waste disposal for countries
                        that generally had no effective disposal/treatment 
systems in place.

                        Northwest Louisiana Commerce Center

                        Early in 2000, Paul Brant and I contacted Vic 
Guadagno in Louisiana. We had
                        heard about a project he was undertaking that 
centered on a reuse of U.S. army
                        facilities, with the possibility of a humanitarian 
aid component. He welcomed our
                        involvement in the project.

                        We agreed to meet in Louisiana in late March and 
proceeded to work on our
                        ideas, along with a third team member - Damien 
Campbell. In March we flew to
                        Louisiana and presented our ideas to key 
stakeholders in the project. In a week,
                        we got to know Vic and the team, as well as the 
site. Vic is a keen
                        permaculturist and video producer with a suite of 
skills in digital media,
                        communications and marketing. We eventually agreed 
to develop a business
                        plan centered around a humanitarian aid hub--this 
would provide appropriate
                        education, and attract strategic manufacturers to 
the site to develop
                        appropriate new technology, as well as fabricate 
needed items.

                        Vic also invited us to attend Bill Mollison's 
workshop and subsequent
                        permaculture course to be taught by Geoff and 
Sindhu Lawton at the Northwest
                        Louisiana Commerce Center in October 2000. We 
funded three of our
                        Macedonia project staff - Pajtim Saiti, Gazmend 
Fetahi and Basri Saliu to attend
                        this event, based on their capabilities and ongoing 
efforts to begin local
                        permaculture organizations. The trip also allowed 
me to brief the State
                        Department in Washington about the Cegrane project. 
I had paid them a visit
                        earlier in the year, and had been warmly received. 
The project was considered a
                        success. Unfortunately, it was outside their 
mandate to fund any further phases,
                        but they were highly satisfied with the site 
rehabilitation and additional
                        community development work was a bonus.

                        Bill Mollison Workshop

                        The Mollison workshop was a well-attended two-day 
event. Bill was irreverent
                        and controversial, causing some people to leave, 
but most stayed. This was
                        somewhat surprising considering that the audience 
included members of the
                        Louisiana National Guard, US defense industry and 
the US Army. On day two,
                        myself, Paul, Gazmend, Pajtim and Basri presented 
the Cegrane project. It was
                        an emotional moment to see people's response. I 
stayed for the subsequent
                        two-week PDC course, which my wife Galawezh also 
attended. We looked at the
                        administration area at the ammunition plant site 
and drafted designs for the
                        area as part of the practical component of the 
course. One of the attendees was
                        Deputy Sheriff Eddie Bogues. He told us he was 
doing the course because he
                        understood recycling - that's what they did with 
prisoners. This is an important
                        issue considering that the US has among the highest 
rates of incarceration of
                        any country.

                        I finally returned to Macedonia in
                        November 2000, but without
                        having secured any immediate
                        donor funds for the Cegrane
                        project. It was clear that the
                        project would end only half way
                        through completion. I agreed to
                        stay on and close the project,
                        probably the hardest part of any
                        mission. There was a lot of
                        community discussion and some
                        controversy about the future of
                        the site. In the end, it was handed
                        back to the local authorities that
                        had retained legal control over
                        the site. The physical
                        rehabilitation was an unqualified success, many 
additional initiatives had been
                        begun, but the permaculture institute as an 
integral component of the site was
                        not yet a reality. Nonetheless, during the course 
of the project, we had achieved
                        the following:

                        - Full environmental stabilization and revegetation 
of the 54 hectare (133 acre)
                        site through the construction of 7.2 km (4.5 miles) 
of swales, planting of
                        15,000 trees and interswale seeding of winter grasses.

                        - Construction of a two-story straw-bale, passive 
solar library and teaching
                        center, and similarly designed straw-bale office 
building.

                        - Construction of various straw-bale storage 
buildings and an 8,000 square foot
                        straw bale harvest center.

                        - Construction of 32-bed summer accommodation 
consisting of 8 straw-bale
                        cabins with an outdoor kitchen and composting toilets.

                        - Planting of 5,000 mixed fruit trees with fully 
operative, gravity-fed drip
                        irrigation system.

                        - Planting of a children's garden with fully 
integrated and productive
                        permaculture gardens.

                        - Development of 1 acre of intensive mixed 
vegetable gardens. These produced
                        abundant crops of corn, sunflowers, peppers, 
squash, tomatoes, and herbs. -
                        Training of over 300 Permaculture Design Course 
(72-hours) graduates in
                        surrounding communities.

                        - Seeding of two permaculture based environmental 
NGO's from the project (see
                        the Permaculture and Peacebuilding Center website: 
www.ppc.org.mk)

                        - Integration of women's participation in the 
project despite traditional gender
                        stereotypes being a powerful feature of local culture.

                        As 2000 drew to a close, Vic Guadagno invited me to 
join the team in Louisiana
                        working at Northwest Louisiana Commerce Center 
(NWLCC.) They had a grant
                        from the army to incorporate a permaculture 
demonstration as part of the site.
                        This seemed like the permaculture path, I accepted.

                        Northwest Louisiana Commerce Center/Louisiana Army 
Ammunition Plant

                        The focus of the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant 
reuse project was
                        encapsulated under the banner of the NWLCC. This 
entity aimed to attract new
                        tenants to the site, a 15,000-acre ammunition plant 
commissioned during
                        WWII. It had seen action during all the critical 
military engagements that the
                        US had been involved with since this time, with a 
final cessation of activities in
                        the 1990s. One part of the site remains in layaway, 
awaiting a possible
                        strategic re-activation should national security 
interests require it. The rest of
                        the site--over 400 structures, and miles of related 
logistics and service
                        infrastructure such as road and rail lines--was 
available for new use that could
                        attract new business to the site. With 80% of the 
site forested, and wetland and
                        swamp areas well represented on the site, it had a 
lot of high value natural
                        attributes to protect as well.

                        The foundation for the reuse approach was a 
combination of industrial ecology
                        and permaculture. Industrial ecology is, if you 
like, a permaculture approach to
                        an industrial ecosystem. It applies ecosystem 
thinking in an attempt to link
                        waste streams from one process as feedstock for 
another process or industry -
                        thus minimizing and ideally eliminating all waste 
through its conversion to
                        beneficial use. In addition to a broad mandate to 
attract new tenants, the
                        project had secured some DOD funds for a 
permaculture study within the site.
                        This was intended as an opportunity to showcase 
permaculture through its
                        application at a specific site on the base; it was 
linked to a broader conceptual
                        program of setting up a physical location for the 
Permaculture Institute.

                        Our team was diverse and made up of a combination 
of volunteers and
                        consultants led by Vic Guadagno. Josh Tosteson and 
Paul Brant focused on the
                        Eco-industrial development front, seeking 
opportunities to turn local waste
                        streams into opportunities for new business 
start-ups. I headed up the
                        permaculture project assisted by Amy Jo Vickery and 
Nick Hogarth. We
                        developed a close working association with Dr. 
Charles Reith from the
                        University of Louisiana Lafayette. We spent six 
months planning and applying
                        for permits to carry out a permaculture design on 
the administrative area of the
                        site. This was to combine a small business 
incubator with the various elements
                        needed for a full-fledged permaculture academy. 
During this period, we also held
                        a PDC taught by Geoff Lawton that drew on the local 
area and identified pockets
                        of people and organizations with an interest in 
sustainability issues.

                        During the first part of the year, I was able to 
return to Australia to participate
                        in Bill's Tasmania permaculture course. It was here 
that I met Janet Millington
                        and Darren Doherty, co-teachers on the course. It 
was my third PDC and
                        contributed additional views and ideas to my 
perspective on sustainability. One
                        thing that I realized was that there were an ever 
expanding network of people
                        working in very professional and organized ways to 
further understanding and
                        make practical application of permaculture 
knowledge. Another course
                        attendee, Wayne Parrot has subsequently embarked on 
a new venture strongly
                        centered on permaculture (www.fountainhead.com.au). 
After the course, over Bill
                        Mollison's kitchen table, I met with Howard Yana 
Shapiro and Nancy Shapiro
                        from Seeds of Change and learned about their 
efforts to promote organic seeds
                        and food. Seeds of Change later made a much valued 
seed donation to our
                        NWLCC permaculture project.

                        Often, the greatest challenges to applying 
sustainable ideas and technology
                        isn't the technical side, but rather cultural, 
bureaucratic, or institutional
                        resistance to change. In our case, it came in the 
form of a decision for the
                        Louisiana National Guard to take an increasing role 
on the site. Allied to this
                        was their decision to host a third 'Youth 
Challenge' program in Louisiana. It is
                        seen as a successful program in Louisiana, and our 
administrative area with the
                        proposed permaculture design was seen as the 
perfect venue, minus the
                        permaculture. Our offer to work with them to tailor 
a Youth Challenge program
                        for the site that included permaculture ideals and 
skill transfer was not taken
                        up. We initially looked for an alternate site on 
the base, then we looked off site
                        for somewhere more accessible to the public.

                        Our off-site strategy was accepted by the DOD as a 
form of outreach into the
                        communities that had done so much to support the 
LAAP facility, and taken a
                        big economic hit during its phase down and eventual 
closure. We eventually
                        identified a suitable organization with whom to 
work, Cultural Crossroads of
                        Minden. They are a broad based not-for-profit 
entity engaged in environment,
                        culture , and the arts in Webster Parish. The 
events of September 11 occurred
                        in the midst of our project re-orientation, just 
following a second PDC course
                        run by Janet Millington. For me, following my 
initial disbelief, 9/11 underscored
                        the interconnectedness of life on our planet and 
the fact that we all need to be
                        living well for a peaceful future. This will be 
premised on sharing abundance and
                        reaching a common level of quality of life, rather 
than the patchwork of luxury
                        and wretchedness that currently stands as normality.

                        A component of the PDC was development of a site 
design for a piece of land
                        that had been donated to Cultural Crossroads in the 
heart of the town of Minden.
                        Here, on approximately 4 acres, we had agreed to 
focus the permaculture
                        implementation. It was great to start work 
physically following all the paper
                        pushing. In the midst of planning for gardens and a 
community celebration, we
                        sought out some worm castings. These are a valuable 
natural fertilizer, but not
                        yet commonly available in your average garden or 
retail store. Louis Michot, one
                        of our summer interns found a company called B&B 
Worm Farms. They had
                        castings, they were willing to make a donation, and 
the CEO, Greg Bradley was
                        willing to make a long drive personally to do so.

                        We were aware of vermiculture as an important 
method of taking organic
                        material and producing a valuable soil amendment. 
Greg had over 1000
                        contracted worm growers spread across the country 
and was looking to
                        implement industrial scale vermicomposting systems. 
As we discussed our
                        project and the NWLCC project, some connections 
quickly formed. One of the
                        premier feeds for earthworms is horse manure. One 
of our identified challenges
                        was to take the stable waste from Louisiana Downs 
and find something more
                        useful than landfilling for it. The eco-industrial 
team headed up by Josh
                        Tosteson and Mark LeJeune had been considering 
biogas digestion and
                        composting of the material. Vermicomposting had the 
additional benefit of a
                        higher biological quality end product with greater 
economic value.

                        FullCircle LLC: www.fullcirclellc.com

                        At around the same time as
                        we considered
                        vermicomposting, we also
                        began serious discussions
                        about forming ourselves into
                        a company that could take
                        these sustainability focused
                        ideas and find economic
                        value in them. The
                        eco-industrial team had
                        taken the broad approach of
                        considering regional waste
                        streams and looking for
                        industrial matches to turn
                        these waste streams into
                        feedstocks. One abundant
                        regional waste stream was
                        centered on the forest industries and post-consumer 
waste-wood. On the basis
                        of a survey of availability, a company was 
attracted to the NWLCC that was to
                        take post-consumer waste-wood, grind it and produce 
particle board. This
                        represented a $30 million investment and 
significant new jobs. We felt that
                        there was value in taking this basic model of 
operating and using it as the
                        foundation for a company with core permaculture 
ethics as its operating
                        philosophy:

                        - Care of people
                        - Care of the earth
                        - Return of surplus to support the first two 
principles

                        We formed ourselves into a company - FullCircle 
Limited Liability Company that
                        eventually included four partners, Dr. Charles 
Reith, Paul Brant, Josh Tosteson,
                        and myself. We took a royalty position in relation 
to the proposed vermiculture
                        project on the LAAP. The business planning that was 
done in relation to the
                        track showed an annual liability of approximately 
$150,000 in tipping fees, and
                        a similar amount in transport costs. This was 
caused by a peak population of
                        1,600 horses stabled at the track during racing 
season. It was our target to
                        take this liability and turn it into a profit by 
producing an organic soil
                        amendment, rather than groundwater pollution and 
greenhouse gasses in a
                        landfill.

                        New York, New York

                        December 2001 saw relocation for Paul and myself to 
New York City. We
                        cemented our company mission: to conceive, design, 
develop, practice, and
                        promote enterprises that accelerate the transition 
to sustainability, using the
                        concept of a sustainable system and the functional 
properties of natural
                        ecosystems as our blueprints. Our initial focus was 
on alternative energy and
                        vermiculture.

                        The project planning and various business planning 
and environmental stages
                        were completed for B&B's new operation at LAAP. We 
took the project before the
                        Louisiana Department of Economic Development and 
Louisiana Governor Mike
                        Foster and found great support from our Minden 
representative. People
                        remembered our work with LAAP and our work in 
supporting the City Farm
                        Project. The effects of the project, in purely 
economic terms, stacked up from
                        the perspective of the LDED. We were attracting new 
industry and helping to
                        create jobs Ñsustainable economic development. More 
importantly from our
                        perspective, we had diverted waste streams into 
productivity.

                        By March 2002, the first worms arrived onto the 
site, and all the track's stable
                        waste was being delivered there. As of the end of 
July, there are an estimated
                        150,000 lb of earthworms processing this material 
into a valuable product. The
                        initiation of this, as the second major business on 
the LAAP using regional
                        waste streams as a feedstock means that the NWLCC 
is beginning to truly
                        function as an eco-industrial park in the way it 
was originally conceived. It is
                        hoped that the army and current managers continue 
to stay true to that vision.

                        We launched our website in July: 
www.fullcirclellc.com. There are abundant new
                        opportunities and an expanding network of 
collaborators. Writing this has
                        reminded me what an exciting ride the past three 
years has been. A feeling of
                        being engaged in creating solutions generates 
additional energy and ideas,
                        especially as part of a wider team with shared 
values and vision. There is also
                        so much more to learn, and as I contemplate my 
small garden in Brooklyn, I'm
                        reminded of the importance of seeing and nurturing 
the biological systems that
                        underpin our true wealth on earth.

                        Things change when we choose to change them, we 
need however the skill to
                        "see" where that intervention will be most 
effective. Permaculture has given me
                        some skills in this area. I am now surrounded by a 
team of people with whom to
                        cooperate on this venture. A tremendously life 
affirming aspect of the
                        experience has been the confirmation again that 
people working mutually within
                        a meaningful framework can prevail against what may 
seem insurmountable
                        odds. Harmonizing the efforts and effects of our 
economic, political and social
                        systems is the challenge of finding sustainability 
as we move into the 21st
                        Century. Together we can.

                        Andrew Jones is currently in northern Iraq working 
with Counterpart International to
                        help Iraqi people rebuild their agriculture. He is 
a Partner in FullCircle LLC with a
                        background in ecology, permaculture, humanitarian 
aid and international
                        development. A native of Australia, he has worked 
extensively over the last 12 years
                        in the Middle East, the Pacific, Asia, Europe and 
the United States.








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