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IT'S TIME TO MOVE BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY
Ankle is better this morning.
Did some washing, caught up with the blog, and checked in with home. Main mission today is to replenish my funds with a visit the ATM round the corner.
Typing, typing, writing, writing, blog blog blogging… was it really only 2 days ago I was joking around in the kitchen with my newfound Mongolian friends?
Sorting thru all the pics taken that day and I am taken right back to Tosontsengel, now wondering where students go and what they will do with the Permaculture Design skills and knowledge they have developed…
It would be so interesting to see where each project is 2, 5, 10 years from now.
It would be great to be able to come back and revisit, though this is not a certainty.
Peak Oil, Climate Change, continuing Global Economic Crises… we live in such uncertain times…
It could be so easy to throw up our hands in frustration and disgust, to go down that dark road of disillusionment with humanity… to buy into the thinking that we’ve destroyed ourselves, and it is just a matter of time before the bomb we’ve set explodes in our faces.
Or, we could play for the best in humanity.
I have glimpsed the depths of the resilience of the human spirit in the eyes of my companions over the last month. I have experienced heartfelt connection and generosity that transcends language barriers, cultural differences, and geographic separation.
I have seen light in the eyes of our brothers and sisters here in Mongolia, who live closer to the land than I ever have in this lifetime, who have so much less than I have ever had, who give and share so much and so freely of themselves, to welcome us into their hearts and homes.
The light I have seen in students' eyes here on the Steppe, is that same light that goes on in people’s eyes at the end of the PDCs I have been on in Australia, the light that says HOLY CRAP I GET IT… we don’t need to have all the answers, just figure out the right questions… because it is all right there in front of us…
We do truly live in a Garden of Eden, with everything that we need to create a beautiful, vibrant, healthy community and life right before us… if only we train our eyes and hearts to see…
...suddenly, problems become solutions, waste materials become valuable resources… all with a slight shift in perception and a simple foundation of ethics and principles to guide us.
Maybe we really can solve all of the world’s problems in a garden.
Nature moves in exponential cycles, hence the quickening we are experiencing now, this hurtling towards potential and spectacular impending doom… ecological, economic, and cultural disaster, all converging into a gigantic cosmic SPLAT…
...though if nature moves in exponential cycles, than might it not also possible to harness this energy, and use the forces of nature to reverse the cycle of damage we have done?
High-intellect, high-tech design won’t solve our problems - you can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created it.
Low-tech, remembered knowledge of how to move and work in harmony with the natural world around us is, well, the natural way...
…Head thinks. Heart knows.
Sustainability is not just a new, trendy buzzword that hipsters and hippies wax lyrical about in coffeehouses about town.
Sustainability is how we lived, out of necessity, for millenia.
Sustainability is simply living, living simply, within our means, and working with natural laws and forces, to expand that means, to expand our lives – not forcing and bending nature to our wills.
In nature, energy cycles, changes form, and comes back again, and if you ignore this law… you get modern society. The Piper always collects his due in the end.
It is time to move beyond Sustainability.
We get what we focus on, so let’s play bigger.
Instead of focusing on how to reduce our footprints, what if we were to focus on creating systems inspired by nature, using biological resources, in order to flourish?
What if we were to focus on re-discovering and re-organizing the vast amount of natural living resources we have all around us, and incorporating them into our designs to create multiple mutual beneficial relationships within our systems?
What if we were to focus on how much we could create and contribute to the world, instead of how much we can consume and accumulate?
What if we were to focus on how big a positive impact we could make, rather than how much we can shrink ourselves to minimize our impact?
What if we were to focus on
- Restoring?
- Regenerating?
- Recreating?
…What kind of world could we create?
DORGA SINGS A TRADITIONAL MONGOLIAN FOLK SONG AND THE CROWD JOINS IN;
THEY DID THIS FOR ALL OF THE SONGS
It is a tradition on Rick’s PDC Courses to have an ‘Act Night’ and celebration at the conclusion of Final Design Presentation day. Rick typically underwhelms anyone who has been to one of these events with his repitoire of infamous acts that he draws from: The Snowman Joke, Juggling Without Balls, and of course Monty Pythons’ Cheese Shop Skit to name a few.
Last night he took his acting repitoire to a whole new level.
The night had been progressing well, with my 10-year old fishing buddy Tetch [aka ‘ChoJo’ to the rest of the group] proudly performing MC duties and calling up embaressed classmates at random. Each student would then launch consistently into a haunting, melodic rendition of a Mongolian folk song that the entire class would soon harmonize into… goosebumps during each song.
Then, Bek silently disappears to prepare for his part in Rick’s skit and I am at least able to prepare myself for the shenenigans that are about to ensue.
An announcement is made from the back of the tent, WWF style but in Mongolian, the rough translation: “Ladies and Gentleman, Welcome… to the maaaaaaaaiiiiiin event! …tonight’s championship wrestling bout features the Thunder from Down Under: RICK COOOOOOLEMAAAAAAAAANNNNNN…!!!”
Enter Rick, shirt pulled over his head so that belly and chest are exposed, jocks on snugly and of course blundstone wrestling boots, flying around the room like a madman in his best impersonation of a champion Mongolian Wrestler – albeit a short, round, white one…
Bek continues his announcing: “…and the challenger this evening Ladies and Gentleman, all the way from Aus-tra-li-aaaaaaaa… RICK COOOOOOLEMAAAAAAAAANNNNNN…!!!”
And so begins an odd 3-minute battle between Rick vs.... well, ummm… Rick! ...circling himself and wrangling for position against his imaginary opponent [himself], before he finally vanquishes, well, ummm… himself. Epic.
The Mongolians are enjoying the show, laughing heartily at the crazy man at the front of the room, while Bek announces the next challenger: “…the Mongoooooooolian Marmot…!!!”
In flies ChoJo, racing around the room flapping his arms like a sparrow-hawk, flexing his skinny arms and playing to the crowd, who roar in delight. This match lasts another 3 minutes, with ChoJo chasing a terrified Coleman round and round the tent before pinning him heroically.
Then, Bek announces the grande [and un-scripted] finale: “…Ladies and Gentleman, this evening’s final challenger, also all the way from Aus-tra-li-aaaaaaaa… MICHELLE AAAAAAABELLLLLLLLLLL…!!!” Nobody escapes Act Night – everyone must perform – especially The Boss…
NO YOUR EYES ARE NOT DECEIVING YOU.
YUP, THAT'S RICK...
We are rolling with laughter by this stage, and when Rick finally goes down ungraciously to Michelle’s special long fingernal attack, tears of mirth are being wiped from the audience’s cheeks.
Classic. Epic. Epicly Classic. Classicly Epic.
More epic words to describe the occasion absolutely fail me at this point.
But in true premie-fashion, even this event has a multi-function purpose…
Students have just spent an intense 9-hours presenting and watching other students present, not to mention the long hours put into their teams’ design over the last few days.
It becomes vitally important to everyone that each person does well in the final design task, not only as a review mechanism for instructors, but because students really take on the challenge personally and own the results. As a result, the criticism given during feedback is always constructively framed.
The course - which takes a group of like-minded individuals searching for answers, and in two weeks creates a synergistic collection of permaculturists equipped with a framework to gather information, and fit that into sustainable designs for their farms, businesses, and communities.
Party night is a small but significant reward at the end of the intense conclusion to the PDC. It is often the last time that the group will be together under one roof, and is also an opportunity to share cultures, gifts, and fellowship with new friends and colleagues before we head back out to continue our journeys…
…and I haven’t even started telling you about how the day went!
‘Teach-the-Teacher’ is a bonus section that Rick has built onto the Mongolian PDC in conjunction with ADRA, because it is one thing for students to go back to thir projects and communities with new skills and knowledge, but it is an entirely different thing for students to go back equipped to actually teach and transfer their new skills and knowledge.
This is a challenge for most people working in Overseas Development and Aid.
To illustrate this point, perhaps it is best to quote from an article by Rick entitled ‘The Role of Permaculture in Sustianable Aid’:
“…permaculture is information and imagination intensive, thus lending itself to be followed up even from a distance, by email or internet.
If we design well enough we create spare time and energy. When communities have those, they then have the ability to move quickly. I believe in any permaculture aid project, training participants in the PDC (Permaculture Design Course) is integral.
Permaculture is not about clay ovens or water management systems [or composting toilets and greenhouse gers –ML-]. These are techniques applied to solve specific problems.
Permaculture is about design systems thinking. If we can introduce this methodology we leave behind an empowered group able to design their own solutions. Successful projects can then host new permaculture volunteers in a mutually beneficial way leading to further training and implementation.
An integrated approach tends to lead to higher uptake and therefore better success rates. …[therefore] permaculture has a major role to play on the world stage. As a design system, permaculture has so much potential to positively impact on aid and development projects around the world. Not only does it address issues of depleting soil, water and energy, but it creates empowered communities who can become more self reliant and less dependant on aid and more able to direct the aid they receive into positive capacity building projects.
In establishing successful permaculture projects around the world, we are also creating skilled designers who prove that permaculture systems work. As change is forced upon the world at an unwelcome rate, it will be crucial to have successful models on the ground.
Through implementing permaculture, aided communities of today have the potential to become the models for sustainable practices for tomorrow.”
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CLASS PHOTO! CONGRATULATIONS!!
We were treated with yet another special surprise this afternoon during the Certificate Presentations.
After all the certificates had been awarded, the co-operative members who had been sitting silently and elegantly in their colourful traditional diels at the back of th tent, filed to the front, then presented and dressed each of us in our own custom, hand-made traditional silk garment:
- An ornate, brown-and-gold diel with a bright orange sash for Rick.
- An intricate, red-and-gold top for Kat.
- An elegant, white-and-black top for me.
I love this work!
FINAL DESIGN PRESENTATION DAY
Students were assigned the task of redesigning the hasha we have been staying in over the last 12 days to be as intensively productive as possible, including 6 gers out on the river flats for managing livestock, if they choose to incorporate this into their design.
BAYAARMA, GUMBAATAAR, 'DASHNING', & OYUNAAPRESENT THEIR DESIGNS
The 5 Design Teams must demonstrate an understanding of the Permaculture Design Principles they have learned, for example maximizing use of available resources, maximizing use of biological resources, and diversifying crops and income sources. Each team member will present a portion of the design to the class.
Design Parameters:- Incorporate Permaculture Ethics of Earth Care, People Care, Resource Share
- Intensive as Possible
- Environmentally and Economically Sustainable
- No imaginary streams! …or sheep… [some imaginary elements were incorporated into earlier design tasks]
Some teams were awake until 2am last night putting the final touches on their designs. A couple team members didn’t get to sleep until 4am.
STUDENTS LISTEN INTENTLY AS TUMME PRESENTS HER PORTION OF THE TEAM'S FINAL DESIGN
We saw some great ideas, including:- A ger design with a root cellar
- Compost tea irrigation systems
- Compost heaps in greenhouses to help warm them biologically from the inside during colder months
- Greenhouses adapted for use as animal shelters during winter
- Compost toilet designs
- Adaptive re-use of existing abandoned buildings in the hasha for restaurant, information center, more greenhouses, sewing & felting businesses, a welding business, food processing facility, and even a hot shower houses
- Mulch crops, herbal barriers, and green manures
- Intercropping and crop rotation strategies
- Use of vertical space for crops such as beans and squash
- Food forest design
- Orchards with future planning for grafting cultivars onto wild root stock
On a personal note, it was very gratifying to see that each Design Team started their planning with a SWOT analysis to further establish parameters for the design brief… such a wonderful feeling to have immediate feedback that the single session I facilitated was understood, internalized, and implemented so quickly.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Each student demonstrated a solid understanding of the skills and knowledge acquired in the past two weeks. It is a foundation that will serve them well in their lives going forward.
One would be hard-pressed to find a better example of how to effectively Educate, Equip, and Empower a group of individuals looking to make a positive change in their lives, and in the lives of others around them.
DORLIG PRESENTS A FOOD FOREST SYSTEM
I am truly honoured to have been a part of this team, to bear witness and participate in the life-changing work that was done.
The work continues tomorrow, when the two day ‘Teach the Teacher’"course begins to equip students to go back to their projects and communities, and effectively transfer the skills and knowledge they now have.
It has been a long and intense day, we will all sleep soundly tonight…
CHICKEN TRACTOR DESIGN
PASSIVE SOLAR GREENHOUSE DESIGN
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IT'S TIME TO MOVE BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY
