Permaculture Neighbourhood Design Mini-conference

(Email from Permaculture Association ( Britain), 31 January 2006)

Dear members, supporters and friends,

Would you like to meet and share with other people running permaculture projects at a fully funded 2 day event in March?

The Permaculture Association will be running the 2-day conference as part of the Environmental Action Fund supported ‘Sustainable Production in Active Neighbourhoods’ (SPAN) project. We would like to invite people actively working with a neighbourhood or community project to attend the conference and contribute your ideas and experience so that the work of the SPAN project builds from and supports current good practice and needs.

The event will take place at the Oxford Youth Hostel centre on Tuesday 14th – Wednesday 15th March 2006. Overnight accommodation, food (meals plus drinks & snacks), presentation materials and travel expenses will be provided for up to two delegates from each project, with 28 places available in total.

Delegates should either have a Permaculture Design Certificate or be self-taught practitioners who can demonstrate a good working understanding of permaculture design. All delegates should be actively involved in supporting and working with neighbourhoods / communities to develop local sustainability projects using permaculture. It is not important that projects have the word “permaculture” in their name, but rather that they put into practice permaculture principles and techniques. Delegates must be willing to make a short presentation of their work during the event.

We will also accept applications from people who have had considerable project experience but are not currently running a project. Learning from past successes and failures is a key part of the event.

During the event we want to explore:

What techniques and strategies are we using and how well do they work?
What is going well with our projects?
What is difficult, what are our current challenges and limiting factors?
What are our goals, our vision of what we want to achieve?
What might be our next achievable steps, both as individual practitioners, projects and as a national organisation/network?
What are the current resource / skills gaps? What should the SPAN toolkit include?

Please complete and return the Application Form below as soon as possible, and no later than noon on February 14th. We will contact successful applicants by the 21st of February.

Introduction to the SPAN Project

The SPAN partnership consists of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, the Community Composting Network, Garden Organic (formerly HDRA), the Permaculture Association, and the Women’s Environmental Network. We have received funding from DEFRA’s Environmental Action Fund to work together for three years.

SPAN is an action research project that is investigating how community groups can more easily access the wealth of information, expertise and support held by each of the five organisations. We are also creating a self-assessment toolkit that groups can use to identify their next steps and other sources of support.

SPAN is funded by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

With best wishes, AG and DM, Leeds office.

Permaculture Association (Britain)

SPAN Mini-Conference Application Form

Dear Applicant,

Please fill in the form and return by email to office@permaculture.org.uk, or post to BCM Permaculture Association, London WC1N 3XX, by noon on Tuesday 14 th February.

Project name:………………………….. ………………………………………….……………….

Name of delegate 1:………………………………………………..………………………………

Tel:…………………………email:………………………………………………….……………….

Male / female (For accommodation purposes)

Do you have any disabilities or specific food requirements we should be aware of?:

Name of delegate 2:………………………………………………..………………………………

Tel:…………………………email:………………………………………………….……………….

Male / female (For accommodation purposes)

Do you have any disabilities or specific food requirements we should be aware of?:

Project start date (and end date if applicable)…………………….………………………….

Please describe your project and its use of permaculture design

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Please note that submission of this form does not guarantee a place at the event. We will contact successful applicants on 21 st February.

SPAN is funded by DEFRA’s Environmental Action Fund (EAF)

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