[OKC] How to help Oklahoma become more resilient

[Shauna Struby]

"Scott Pittman is one of the most gifted teachers I have encountered. He has
a long history of putting permaculture into practice and he knows how to
convey what he has learned. Additionally, he is a great storyteller and has
tales of his worldwide travels as a teacher and practitioner. He has a huge
heart and is altogether a wonderful human being." - Randy Marks, Groundwork:
Applied Design <http://groundworkapplieddesign.com/> 


There are still a few spots left in Oklahoma's first certificate level
Permaculture Design Course. Enrollment closes Aug. 2. 


How to help Oklahoma become more resilient


 <http://thinklady.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5514458ae8834014e8a1d692b970d-pi>
Description: drought monitor

The daily pounding of sun, drought, and record-setting heat on the Great
Plains is a searing reminder of nature's cycles and of a changing climate.
In western Oklahoma grasslands and pastures give way to sand, farm ponds and
creeks are dry or going dry, water wells are low, and ranchers -- no longer
able to feed cattle on pasture -- are selling them off at auctions that go
long into the night. As the drought monitor above shows, in central Oklahoma
things are literally only a shade better and all of Oklahoma is now in some
level of drought.

Oklahoma has always been a place with weather extremes. Climatologists tell
us that not only can we expect this to continue but that we will see even
more variability and extremes as the climate continues to change. 

This raises questions: Are there ways to better manage increasingly precious
resources such as water, to retain soil moisture, to retrofit and redesign
human communities that are resilient and perhaps even abundant in the face
of all kinds of weather, and to do all these things so that we manage,
maintain and preserve the natural systems that give us life in a sustainable
way? 

Permaculture design offers an approach to designing human settlements
modeled on the relationships found in nature. Central to permaculture are
three ethics: care for the earth, care for people and fair share. These
three ethics, along with 12 principles form the foundation for permaculture
design and are also found in most traditional societies. Many ecologists,
scientists and environmental advocates see permaculture as offering one of
the most comprehensive and holistic means for addressing the critical state
of our planet and its species.

In a video called,  <http://youtu.be/sohI6vnWZmk> Greening the Desert, with
Geoff Lawton, a permaculture consultant, designer and teacher from
Australia, you'll find an example of what permaculture can accomplish. In a
desert area of Israel where in August temperatures can go over 122 degrees
and rainfall is a scant few inches per year, a salinated landscape is
transformed into a lush oasis, all without chemical fertilizers or
pesticides and using nothing but natural rainfall as a source of water.

For Oklahomans, learning about permaculture has, up until now, required
travelling out of state, and paying hefty tuition fees in addition to
traveling and lodging expenses since permaculture courses are not yet
routinely offered here. That's changed this summer with the advent of
Oklahoma's first full-scale, certificate-level Permaculture Design Course
organized by Transition OKC <http://www.goinglocalokc.org>  and taught by
internationally renowned permaculturist, Scott Pittman of the Permaculture
Institute <http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/class-4/> , Santa
Fe, N.M. The course starts in less than two weeks on August 4, and I admit
to being terribly excited about it.

 <http://thinklady.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5514458ae8834014e8a1d694c970d-pi> Two
of Oklahoma City citizens have taken the Permaculture Design Course and
describe permaculture's promise for Oklahoma and the talents of Pittman as a
teacher. Randy Marks, principal, Groundwork: Applied Design
<http://groundworkapplieddesign.com/>  says this:

"Scott Pittman is one of the most gifted teachers I have encountered. He has
a long history of putting permaculture into practice and he knows how to
convey what he has learned. Additionally, he is a great storyteller and has
tales of his worldwide travels as a teacher and practitioner. He has a huge
heart and is altogether a wonderful human being.

I took the design course with Scott when I was trying to figure out a new
direction for my career and life. The course was fun, provocative and
challenging. In itself, it didn't change my life, but it gave me a framework
to begin changing my life and my understanding of nature and culture. I have
thought of that course and what I learned there virtually every day since,
and believe now more than ever that permaculture can help us forge a human
culture in tune with the natural world."

Oklahoma's own practicing permaculturist, Bob Waldrop, founder of the
Oklahoma Food Cooperative <http://www.oklahomafood.coop/>  and Prairie Rose
Permaculture
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prairie-Rose-Permaculture/230186213049> ,
and one of the teachers for the upcoming Oklahoma PDC, sees permaculture as
an essential investment an age of uncertainty.

"Permaculture, with its focus on caring for people, caring for the planet,
and having a care for the future, has helped me design adaptations to my
house that make it possible for us to be comfortable, at low cost, even as
the weather seems to be becoming more extreme - heat and drought in the
summer, cold and ice in the winter. The money I am spending on those
renovations is certainly the best financial investment I have ever made,
since it has reduced my monthly energy bills.  

Like many in the baby boom generation, I am concerned about retirement in an
age of great economic uncertainty. A significant component of my retirement
plan is a debt-free house with very low operating costs. By spending money
now on these permaculture design renovations, while I have a job and income,
I am reducing my cost of living, not only in the present, but also later on,
when I retire and my income is much lower. Every dollar I don't have to
spend during retirement is probably a hundred dollars I don't have to save,
so the advantages of permaculture design for anyone approaching retirement
are very clear and compelling."

Deadline for enrolling in the course is Tues., Aug. 2. Full details for the
course including registration process, payment, dates, times, location,
syllabus and other pertinent details can be found online here
<http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/class-4/> .

Shauna Lawyer Struby

imagine, innovate, collaborate, transition

Co-chair, Transition OKC

Past-president, Sustainable OKC

www.goinglocalokc.org <http://www.goinglocalokc.org/> 

www.sustainableokc.org <http://www.sustainableokc.org/>  

Fresh Greens blog <http://freshgreens.typepad.com/> 

 

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