January 2012 Update

To meet a groundswell of interest in permaculture here, in 2010 Permaculture Scotland was formed as a working group of the Permaculture Association Britain. Excited by the development of a LAND (permaculture Learning And Network Demonstration) project in England (which currently has England-only lottery funding) we would love to develop a ScotLAND network here.

ScotLAND is proposed to be a Scotland-wide project to create a permaculture Learning And Demonstration Network supported by online services and information. Building on twenty-five years of excellent work by local practitioners, demonstration projects will include permaculture designed home gardens, community gardens, public spaces, allotments, smallholdings and farms. ScotLAND aims to:

• support and link new and existing projects through one-to-one support, regional training and skill sharing events;
• raise awareness of permaculture, and projects involved in it, in Scotland;
• create case studies and online services such as a new directory with volunteer opportunities and an offers and requests system to allow sharing of materials, tools and skills;
• support local practitioners to engage new people in food growing and permaculture;
• support people who are new to permaculture to visit established LAND centres to learn about best practice;

If you are based in Scotland and interested in permaculture, please complete a short questionnaire by clicking on this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PermacultureScotLAND

Other things that the Permaculture Scotland Management Group are currently working on include:

• Organising the next Permaculture Scotland General Meeting – SEE THE UPDATE BELOW FOR DETAILS
• Networking permaculture teachers in Scotland
• Establishing a Facebook page to link permaculture people and ideas. Watch this site for more information as it becomes available.

2011 was a great year for Full Permaculture Design Courses in Scotland, with their having been courses held in Nairn, Montrose, Kilmartin and Comrie, as well as lots of short courses and introductions – in 2012 there will be courses in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Forres, Galloway, and Argyll - see the “Courses” page of this site for more info. Fantastic news for all as more people become trained in generating sustainable solutions.

Local Permaculture Groups have been established in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and most recently Glasgow, as well as the longer-running Argyll Permaculture Bees. All great news so we can keep up our knowledge and enthusiasm whilst getting tasks done, and/or skills shared. Let us know if you are establishing a new group in your local area, or would like to join an existing one.

The scottishpermaculture yahoo group has been a great place this year to check out all sorts of discussions on anything from 'What to do about New Zealand flatworms?” to “How should I best regenerate my soil?” as well as postings of relevant courses and events. To join this group go to this website: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/scottishpermaculture/
and click the 'Join this Group' button at the top of the page.

For more information on anything, or to tell us your permaculture news to post up here, please email: scotland@permaculture.org.uk