[Peakoil] David Holmgren reflects on the 2020 summit

[Alex Pollard]

Permaculture co-founder David Holmgren reflecting on the 2020 summit.

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A note from David Holmgren re 20/20

Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] 2020 Reflections
To: pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
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Following APC9 there has been much discussion on the listserve about 
the divergent opportunities for permaculture activism in Australia 
including comments about the absence of permaculture from the Rudd 
government's 2020 forum. I did (briefly) consider applying to join 
the 2020 forum but was so disgusted with the way the questions were 
framed (ie assuming continued economic growth, increasing 
technological complexity etc were inevitable for Australia and the 
world) that I decided that I wouldn't be bothering to apply although 
I can remember thinking I might be convinced if invited (maybe  this 
is an elitist perspective that doesn't help maximise power and 
influence but it is one that I use to help filter and limit the 
escalating demands to something that is personally sustainable.)  My 
scepticism was reinforced by Michael Lardelli's opinion piece about 
the absence of Peak Oil from the agenda (reported on Energy Bulletin 
http://www.energybulletin.net/42630.html ). All the more so that all 
10 members of Association for the Study of Peak Oil that applied to 
be at the forum were rejected. As far as I know there is no leading 
permaculture teacher, designer or activist is at the forum either. 
Finally any discussion of Peak Oil as a "problem", or Permaculture as 
a "solution" would be forced down into the "getto" of the 
Sustainability and Climate Change subject  when Peak Oil (like 
Climate Change) is central to framing the agenda within which all of 
the other questions must be addressed and the second is relevant to 
designing adaptive strategies in relation to all the questions.
 
In comparing the absence of ASPO and Permaculture,
ASPO http://www.aspo-australia.org.au/
  is a relatively new organisation that has focused a lot on media and 
public policy (ie predominantly top down information and change) The 
number and quality of submissions to the Senate inquiry into Future 
Fuel Security in Australia is an example of ASPO's action. It has 
contributed to the fact that all Australian politician cannot deny 
knowing about the evidence for imminent peak oil and the absence of 
any serious planning. On the other hand ASPO is a small organisation 
with not much influence or history. Maybe it could easily be ignored 
by the 2020 gate keepers.
 
Permaculture is a concept that predates the other sustainability 
concepts, is a national and international movement, with tens if not 
hundreds of thousands of practictioners, teachers, designers and 
activists on all continents. As a subset of the environment movement 
it is unusual in being almost completely solution oriented but not 
focused with mainstream corporate or householder sustainability. 
Apart from Permaculture and related networks, most radical grass 
roots environmental activism, is oppositional, trying to stop the 
world we don't wont rather than create the world we do want. On the 
other hand, imagining the perspective of the 2020 gatekeepers, 
permaculture lacks a coherent voice or a focus on public policy. Even 
allowing for these limitations, its amazing that permaculture's 30 
year track record as a positive future focused movement, with a brand 
identity in Australia that makes it almost a household word, that its 
not represented at 2020. Perhaps that reflects the baggage and 
negatives that some people associate with permaculture and our own 
assumption that we are not part of mainstream society and therefore 
would not bother to be part of it.
 
Just some thoughts without any particular agenda about what "we" 
should do other than to say that I feel the new energy behind PIL 
that emerged at APC9 suggests the possibility of an organisation 
emerging  that could speak in some sort of representative way at the 
national level through position papers, policies and media releases 
that speak the language of government. It seem odd to me that I came 
away with more confidence about these possibilities when APC9, for 
all its fantastic aspects (many thanks to all those involved), did 
not appear to produce any concrete outcomes, even when and where the 
next event would be.
 
Leaving aside the big picture perspective for the personal; I was 
dobbed in for the local Ballarat 2020 forum in the group considering 
Australia's Future In The World. I went along out of curiosity and 
was surprised that there were no hard line security or defense 
perspectives and lots of justice and sustainability perspectives as 
well as voluntary simplicity and personal change attitudes on these 
issues. My energy descent future scenarios (see 
http://www.futurescenarios.org/) were received with interest within 
the group. I came away wondering whether this "Labour Party" event 
had attracted a very limited slice of Australian society or whether 
the mainstream media just refuse to reflect the concerns, 
perspectives and understandings of Australians that conflict with 
consensus reality generated from the top via corporations, media and 
government. Probably a bit of both.
 
David Holmgren