Permaculture News

Prologue to Chinese Edition of Principles (探索樸門)

0122-Permaculture-cover-1We are proud to announce that the release of the Chinese language edition of Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren is imminent. To give you a sneak preview, here is the prologue to the edition prepared by David.
First in Chinese, and then in English to follow. 《探索樸門:超越永續的原則與道路》here we come. Any enquiries, please mail 大地旅人慧儀 <[email protected]>. The copies are available here.
作者中文版序
《探索樸門:超越永續的原則與道路》英文版發行已12年,期間世界也經歷了劇烈改變。在許多環保、經濟與社會的指標上,地方社群與全球體系正面臨危機,甚至瓦解。在本書「能源衰退期」必將來臨的前提下,那些導致今日工業化、現代化及全球化失敗的原則,無疑須由新思維取而代之。
樸門永續設計正是以創意回應能源耗竭的前鋒,因為自有證據開始顯示能源必將耗竭至今,此一設計系統的倫理與設計原則,已歷經了數十年的精進與測試。它無法協助拯救我們所知的舊世界,但能激發並提供眾多創意,以順應正在成形的新世界。
樸門始於澳洲,在當地及其它富裕已久的英語系國家歷史也最為悠久,其實其來有自,因為這些國家(仍屬少數)有較多時間瞭解「成長應否設限」此一難題,並開始發展及採用有別於傳統的土地用途與生活方式,以安然度過一個能源必竭的未來。
臺灣、香港及新加坡等華語系地區曾經歷快速的經濟成長,而在目睹急遽工業化、都市化與消費文化最好與最壞的一面後,自然會意識到成長應否設限的問題,並率先提出替代選擇。中國最近的爆炸性成長也提供了新契機,使如何面對成長的見解得以萌芽散播。這些體系無法永續,且其成長可能多由泡沫經濟所帶動,但也讓替代方法在泡沫破滅後有機會迅速普及。
對已經開始尋找生態設計創意的朋友而言,不論是身處最偏遠的鄉村或最新穎的市鎮,都可運用樸門永續設計的道德與設計原則輔助思考,並針對各種不同的情況,根據「首要原則」探索、評估、調整並開發策略與技術,以走出能源耗竭的困境。這些設計創意必將融合現代生態設計,以及化石燃料問世前帶動著家國的傳統智慧與生活方式。
人口密集雖然是一嚴峻挑戰,但仍然有助於樸門永續設計在華語系國家的快速拓展與演進。
首先,近數十年在政治、經濟與社會上的劇烈變化,使當地人民非常能夠適應環境,也願意接納新想法。這些新想法(如樸門)有許多源自西方,但僅少數會鼓勵人們重拾過去讓土地使用與生活方式得以永續的傳統智慧。
最近的富裕及都市化,尤其在中國,意味著仍有許多地方的居民知道如何以低衝擊的方式栽種食物、順應自然、建造居所並惜物愛物,而非汰舊買新,也繼續從事許多其它在化石燃料迅速遍及全球之前,那些較有益於自給自足和社群生活的活動。
相較於澳洲等富裕多年的國家,這是一大優勢,因為這些技能在當地大多早已失傳。樸門永續設計的倫理和設計原則能夠幫助我們的,不是如何倒退至過去,而是如何從傳統與現代去蕪存菁,在未來的能源耗竭中走出富足之路。
我相信這本書以中文發行,會讓許多人走進樸門,而為此我想感謝大地旅人環境工作室創辦人同時也是台灣樸門永續設計學會理事長的江慧儀女士決定將此書譯成中文,以及洪葛蘭設計服務的田中於過程中鼎力協助。
大衛.洪葛蘭
2014 年5 月

The world has changed radically in the 12 years since the publication of Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability in English. By many environmental, economic and social measures, local communities and global systems are in crisis and even collapse. The premise of this book that “the energy descent” future will inevitably require new ways of thinking to replace the now failing principles that have guided industralisation, modernity and globalisation.

Permaculture is at the forefront of this creative response to energy descent because it is based on ethics and design principles that have evolved and been tested over the decades since the evidence for the energy descent future first became clear. Permaculture will not help save the world as we know it, but it can inspire and inform a multitude of creative responses to the world that is emerging.

It is not surprising that permaculture has its origin and longest history in Australia and other long affluent English speaking countries where there has been more time for (a still small minority) to understand the “limits to growth” dilemma and begin developing and adopting the alternative ways of landuse and living that will be viable in the energy descent future.

In the Chinese speaking world, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have naturally been the places where awareness of the “limits to growth” and the alternatives have been first to emerge after rapid economic growth created the best and worst outcomes of rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and consumer culture. The very recent nature of explosive growth in mainland China provides new opportunities for the emergence and spread of post growth ideas. The unsustainability of these systems and the likelihood that much of the growth has been driven by bubble economics, provides opportunities for alternative responses to spread rapidly once the bubble bursts.

For those already on the path of searching for creative ecological design solutions to the dilemmas of energy descent, permaculture ethics and design principles are thinking tools that help find, evaluate, refine and create from “first principles” the strategies and techniques that are appropriate to each and every situation from the most remote provences to the newest cities. Those design solutions will be some hybrid between modern ecological design and traditional wisdom and ways of living that sustained people and nations before the fossil fuel powered era.
While population density is a serious challenge, there are some advantages for the rapid spread and evolution of permaculture in the Chinese speaking world.

Firstly the radical political, economic and social changes of recent decades have made people very adaptable and able to consider new ideas. Many of those new ideas (like permaculture) come from the western world but few encourage people to rediscover the wisdom of traditional systems of sustainable landuse and ways of living.
The very recent nature of affluence and urbanisation, especially in mainland China means there are many places where people still have a working knowledge of low impact ways of growing food, working with nature, building houses, repairing old possessions rather than buying new ones, and the many other activities associated with more self-reliant and communitarian ways of living that existed before the fossil fuel powered global boom.

This is a great strength compared with many long affluent countries such as Australia where many of these skills have been lost generations ago. Rather than a retreat to the past, permaculture ethics and design principles help us sort the “wheat from the chaff” of both tradition and modernity for a prosperous way down in the energy descent future.

I trust that the publication of this book in Chinese will lead many people to permaculture and for that I want thank the publishers Hui-I Chiang (江慧儀) of Earth Passengers (大地旅人環境教育工作室)  and Taiwan Permaculture Institute (台灣樸門永續設計學會) for translation as well as Rick Tanaka at Holmgren Design for facilitation of the process.

David Holmgren
May 2013

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