'Growing Schools' is a 4-part documentary series which showcases empowered children involved in transforming their school grounds into abundant food gardens and nature havens. It explores the proven benefits of gardening and nature connection for children’s motivation, academic achievement, health and wellbeing.  These stories exemplify how the wider community can play a vital part in supporting and sustaining a school garden programme, for the benefit of all.

This session will launch and present the book entitled “Permaculture Inspiring Climate Change Adaptation”.

The study of plants can take on many forms. On the one hand we can take an 'observer' eye and study the plant as an 'other' out there in the life world. We can also engage with plants through a participatory approach, taking our cues from their dynamic unfolding in time and space - their becoming. Furthermore, the developing plant offers us a wealth of impressions and imaginations for contemplation and meditation.

During this double-header we will discuss the role of aesthetics and educational design for permaculture landscapes. Then we will head outside to practice designing a space with these considerations in mind.

Permaculture ethics (people, planet and fair shares) are almost identical to those of 'Sustainable Mental Health', which is an recent initiative supported by the National Health Service and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The team presenting this paper won the 2014 'Sustainability in mental health' award, and they will explain the conceptual and practical ways in which they are undertaking ecologically-minded 'whole systems design' to treat people with severe mental health problems.

“Design in Educational Spaces Based on Permaculture and on Living Education, so that we can learn what we want when we want it”

This proposal opens the door to another way of seeing how we can prepare educational spaces where kids, youth, and adults can learn what they want to learn in the moment they want to learn it, using a practical methodology, with a teacher who observes from the back of the “New Classroom”.

Schumacher College aims to cultivate the whole person – head, hearts and hands.  With a focus on interactive, experiential and participatory learning, we provide the practical skills and strategic thinking required to face the ecological, economic and social challenges of the 21st Century. The Apprenticeship in Sustainable Horticulture is now in its second year and the presentation will look at how we encourage learning by doing in the area of sustainable/restorative food growing in a residential learning community.

This paper aims to explore and further develop the bridge between Permaculture theory and practice in the domains of design and education through a critical engagement with current usage of four commonly-used aspects of Permaculture thinking: design tools, design frameworks, ethics and principles. 

How does the money system affect inequality, housing and the environment? 

We still have the same broken banking system we had in 2008 and we are on track for another financial crisis. We will discuss the current barriers with the money and banking system to creating a fair and sustainable society.

Permaculture's inherently experimental, learning-based approach has a natural affinity with applied, participatory and engaged modes of research. Drawing on experiences of collaboratively designed and delivered research projects in permaculture, Transition and related fields, this paper will describe how systematic use of permaculture as a methodology for research design can reveal and help deliver on multiple yields.