Imagine hives of activity across Britain where people are sharing permaculture design and practical solutions, leading to connected, thriving communities.

You may already be an ambassador for permaculture, but looking for ways to build upon what you do already. Taking part in the Permaculture Ambassador programme is a great way of developing and practising many different kinds of skills and gaining confidence in using them.

Support to get people together where you are

A man and a woman talking on a lawn, in front of polytunnels, besides a trailer with firewood on itWe have been supporting Permaculture Association members to hold local events where they live.

Events should meet the following aims:

  • People meet and network
  • People share knowledge and good practice of practical solutions and permaculture thinking/design
  • More people are engaged with the Permaculture Association and are working towards local ‘hives’ of Ambassadors, who can support and train one another

 

3 elements of the Permaculture Ambassadors project

 

Realising the potential of the Ambassador network

We were funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Sustainable Future programme from July 2016 until September 2018 to develop the network.

The Ambassadors project was divided into three elements:

  • training for Ambassadors

  • support for local groups

  • a far-reaching publicity campaign #WeLoveLiving www.weloveliving.co.uk

all while building a self-supporting Permaculture Ambassadors network.

 

Training and skillsharing

  • A training plan for every person, based on self-identified needs, and the development of free training resources
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    and access this via the Ambassadors hub now.

A range of key skills were identified, within the areas of:

  • Media - e.g. social media, photography, graphic design

  • Group - e.g. designing and delivering taught sessions, facilitation skills, decision making tools & processes

  • Personal - e.g. personal effectiveness & organisation tools, sustaining action and recognising and avoiding burnout

  • Project - e.g. project planning and management, fundraising, recruiting and managing volunteers

A far-reaching publicity campaign

#WeLoveLivingBetween us we have a huge range of skills that with a little organisation and communication could provide much better shared resources.

Together we have been developing talks, demonstrations, blogs, workshops, posters, day courses and articles for local media. The emphasis in all these is on fun, simplicity, and low cost.

All resources carry the campaign brand #weloveliving and can be found at www.weloveliving.co.uk

Share how you are taking steps to live lightly on the planet using the hashtag #WeLoveLiving on social media.

 

Building a self-supporting Ambassador network

Ambassadors make changes by telling people about permaculture and working with people around them

A key goal of this project was to create an Ambassador network that requires minimal financial support beyond the two year funded project period.

To do this, the emphasis has been on creating local ‘hives’ of Ambassadors who can support and train one another. Depending on the geographical clustering of the Ambassadors, these hives range from regional to very local.

Part of the Ambassador role is to help recruit more Ambassadors locally, going well beyond the total ~200 that are directly supported by this project already.

The Permaculture Association is currently able to give limited support through web resources and key campaigning messages, but will these self-organising hives will be the centre of practical delivery and support in the future.