.On Thursday the 30th of January, we watched Inhabit – A permaculture perspective. The interest and excitement beforehand was nice to see, and we were very happy so many people showed up!
The movie explains permaculture as not being a thing, but a way of thinking: it is about a process of design. The word permaculture comes from permanent agriculture. Permaculture is about putting these two words together and asking if the question: “Can we create a permanent agriculture?”. In the sense that it is grounded in the resilient diversity of how ecosystems work.
My favorite part of the movie went as follows:
“Permaculture is dependent on the prospects for us doing good. Not for us just doing less bad. That is the driver of modern environmental movements: let’s just do less damage. Let’s do less bad. Lower our footprint.
Concepts like this create a dangerous self image: it is based on the notion that we are inherently bad. We are a scourge on the face of the planet.
To have the smallest impact as possible, ultimately i would be better if you would not live with that approach. But I wan’t to live and I want my environment around me to be better because I have lived.”
Can our footprint be something we want to leave? Can we do good? Can permaculture be the way to do good?
INHABIT explores this idea.The movie starts with the quote:
“All we need to live a good life surrounds us. Sun, wind, people, buildings, stones, sea, birds and plants. Cooperation with all these things brings harmony, opposition to them brings disaster and chaos.”
The movie is built to inspire cooperation. To inspire doing good. Many different initiatives are shown that live together with their surroundings in different ways. From forest to roof-top gardens, it is always possible to connect with the natural system. INHABIT shows people that are trying to do good for the environment and the people around them.
I left inspired, and I hope everybody did!