Tag Archives: Permaculture

‘Kuttamullamee’, the 1acre Lot that Robin cares for at Crystal Waters Permaculture EcoVillage, is becoming a Permaculture and creative Social Permaculture wonderland after she, Rob and several volunteers and WWOOFers have put in many hours since COVID began to plan for and work towards creating a biodiverse garden system, water security, fire safety, food security, gully regeneration, earthworks consolidation plus social and recreational spaces. It’s a building site, a deconstruction zone (having pulled down four structures), earthworks mitigation site, roadwork project as well as a once again lush and productive vegie, herb, flower, orchard and fibre garden. When the COVID lockdowns began Robin felt that the most important thing she could be doing is gardening, after a few years away and a time of coming ‘home’ again and building… Clearing the bamboo, weeds, dead trees, weed trees was a huge job. Now the new and retrofitted gardens are at a …

The second Social Permaculture Weekend hosted by Robin and I at Crystal Waters Ecovillage in November 2020 was an absolute delight! A rich group came together to explore and understand the application of permaculture principles for the design of social dynamics. Particularly in the context of ‘times of change’, for which 2020 was a great demonstration. The engaging content was met with an equally potent delivery – where the sessions were dynamic, interactive, visual, kinaesthetic and engaging. We sat in circle. Everyone on the same level, with similar access to the information and experience… including us as instructors. Accessible and impactful tools were shared to implement for one’s self, for one’s kin, and for one’s community. We completed with a gentle ritual of acknowledgement and onward visioning to seal the goodness. After a weekend of exploring regenerative social design, combined with the delicious fare served at mealtimes, the group were …

It’s early Feb 2021 and it’s almost a year since I did the Dynamic Groups facilitation workshop. Since then, I felt more confident to take way more risk in my Permaculture teaching. Many times in the past, I have used a PowerPoint to do a 9-4pm Introduction to Permaculture course and so I challenged myself to ditch the laptop altogether, and plan only interactive activities with me as a facilitator only and not THE teacher. This was risky because one doesn’t know the students, they don’t know each other, and what if I cannot guide them in covering all the content in the allotted time!?  They started in pairs introducing themselves and then introducing their partner to the whole group. In pairs again they came up with a definition of permaculture. The essence of these were shared on to a board. Even though this was an Intro workshop, I only …

It’s been a bit of a secret but now that it’s only 10 days away it’s probably OK to share that Charlie McGee is making his way over in his house truck from his home in WA to be part of Robin’s annual ‘Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning’ 6 day Creative Facilitation and Teacher Training. Already a dynamic performer, teacher and professional public figure, Charlie’s involvement in the course will be a great addition to the group of wonderful people coming together for the course. Robin didn’t want to promote the course based on Charlie’s involvement as she wanted it to ‘sell it’self’ and attract the people who were really keen to be there anyway. The big bonus is that Robin will be organising a super big gig for Charlie and his full band the night after the course finishes at Crystal Waters. Mal Webb and Kylie Morrigan from Melbourne will …

A new online magazine, Eco Village Voice, presents special events and the first is the Eco Village Film Festival in Maleny, QLD. This film festival celebrates the rise of sustainable communities aka “ecovillages” who are using appropriate technology to combat the effects of climate change, and are focus more on care for the planet than consumerism and are promoting a healthy lifestyle for the future of humanity. Separate website – https://www.ecovillagefilmfestival.com Eco Village Voice is essentially an online magazine – global quarterly, local monthly. Our monthly ecovillage supplements, with Crystal Waters Ecovillage being the first, is a way for ecovillage residents to network and publicise their activities. It also integrates an independent social media platform for anyone interested in ecovillages and permaculture, or regeneration and sustainability, and more! See: https://www.ecovillagevoice.com

A new documentary celebrating the past, present and future of Crystal Waters is just being released. It is possibly the most extensive exploration of an ecovillage in a documentary yet produced… I’d love to hear of other examples. In 2018, Crystal Waters, a world-first permaculture settlement and wildlife sanctuary, is now 30 years old – located near Maleny, South East Queensland. Given a UN Habitat Award in 1996, Crystal Waters is known worldwide for its permaculture related educational courses. Community members run monthly markets, bakery and cafes, bamboo and timber plantations, a fire brigade, cinema, even a cemetery. A visitor park offers cabins, caravan sites and tent sites. Over 100 dwellings and community buildings showcase diverse building methods – rammed earth, mud brick, straw bale and pole construction. The flow of the program entwines history and present views in a colourful and engaging manner. It may not answer all your …