“Permaculture looks for the patterns embedded in our natural world as inspirations for designing solutions to the many challenges we are presented today. Permaculture encourages individuals to be resourceful and self-reliant and to become a conscious part of the solution to the many problems which face us both locally and globally. Permaculture means thinking carefully about our environment, our use of resources and how we supply our needs. It aims to create systems that will sustain not only for the present, but also for future generations. The idea is one of the co-operation with nature and each other, of caring for the earth and its people.”

-Jan Martin Bang (Ecovillages: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities p. 49)