Be sustainable is the new black
On July 25th, the Finnish Permaculture Association organized this great gathering in Espoo for the already members of the association and other people interested in permaculture lifestyle.
Lillklobb Permaculture is a rare place located less than 15km from Helsinki city, where you can find landscape patterns amazingly easy to apply to your domestic or farm life. Just walking around, surrounded by trees, you will feel immersed in this ecological and sustainable environment, where the only thing that remembers you you are in fact in the city are the noises from the highway traffic.
Joshua Finch did a stunning work with space and made me extremely excited to start thinking about my own permaculture paradise in Portugal. Perhaps transforming some space into something similar in Lisbon city center. Ideas are on the go.
Lillklobb Permaculture is worth your visit and time if you wanna know more about sustainable ways of permanent culture, it will probably change your idea about permaculture projects in the metropolis.
The place was a wise decision for the permaculture summer gathering, creating a comfortable and didactic entourage, great idea!!
We started our day with some coffee, tea and good chats with the about 25 people present, it was definitely a good way to share experiences and permaculture dreams, creating at the same time some space to leave everyone more relaxed. We moved to the auditorium, and there we had the opportunity to know more about the Finnish Permaculture Association, compiling certain factors about the organization and activities performed by the association, it was quite long in my humble opinion, even more, if these “business” subjects are not your “cup of tea”, of course not despising the subject importance itself. As if I understood correctly, the Association stills in a process to find the best way of operation, namely the members and the distribution of the tasks, noting that at the moment the active members are not enough to organize all the desired projects and activities, and this is, unfortunately, the reality of most non-profit associations. Note this is not a personal opinion but an open criticism of our governments. Permaculture, sustainability, and autonomy must be in the priorities list of our cities and communities.
The more “bureaucratic” morning ended and we follow to the cafeteria where we had lunch and more tea, coffee, and “green dreams” exchanges. After the lunch we were divided into small groups to do some stimulating exercises for future permaculture projects, introducing different themes that should be considered, namely the importance of introducing permaculture classes in schools, permaculture principles, things that the association could improve, aims and concerns from the participants, etc.
We spend a good amount of time around this exercises, and in the end, we had the opportunity to hear more about the conclusions and proposes of each different group, I mean permaculture it’s not an exact science and it’s substantial to have moments where we can share a point of views, feelings, practical ideas and different experiences, so we can find the best way of practice the permaculture lifestyle, accordingly with our expectations.
The evening ended with one short walk around the Lillklobb food gardens, accompanied by Alexis and all his knowledge about the place and all the effort applied to create the amazing structure that allowed the present abundance of food. If you walk around you will understand the magic world of food growing, the contentment of seeing fresh food that will serve all the community is at least inspiring, and makes you think about what you can really do about your own nourishment, maybe a small scale food garden is so possible and it’s at your fingertips. Just imagine the possibilities and if you need help the Association is one great start to reach to.
Before the day was over we still had a moment of gathering between everyone in the group. As the day was warm enough and the sun shining, we seat outside with snacks, drinks, and good vibes to warm up the heart even more.
Something that I have learned in the last few months is that permaculture is way more than growing food and gardening, permaculture has way more principles that need to be applied if you wanna create a more balanced ecological system, one of them is a community, and how available you are to work with other people around you, even if you have your own ideas strongly establish. Exactly like the fruit trees, the vegetables, the herbs, and the flowers that need to be organized in a way that compliments each other to grow healthy and strong, with the support of other species like bugs and bees as well, we, humans, need to do the same with our communities, otherwise, we will not be able to form nourishment to ourselves and future generations.
Associations like The Finnish Permaculture Association and gatherings like the Permaculture Summer Meeting at Espoo are so crucial to bring people together, even if the times are so demanding and uncertain.
Regards,
Tania Carvalho
@taniafreakinghuman