Governance of the Permaculture Association - how we run ourselves

Good governance is essential for any organisation that wants to be effective. Over the years, the Association has been developing a range of approaches, policies and procedures to ensure:

  •  Staff, volunteers, members, working groups and trustees are all working together to achieve common goals.
  •  Members are involved in the running of the organisation and deciding its future direction.
  •  Everyone is confident that money is well spent and fully accountable.
  •  Directors concentrate on governance duties, statutory responsibilities and long term issues rather than micro-management and day-to-day issues.
  •  Staff have clearly delegated responsibilities and provide appropriate monitoring information to directors, funders and members.

 

To this end we have adopted 'Carver Governance'  www.carvergovernance.com/, as a useful framework for directors and their relationships with staff and members.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) and annual reports

The AGM is our opportunity to review the last year, report on activities and outline what we will be doing in the next 2-3 years. Reports are given by members of staff, Trustees and key volunteers.

Proposals to the AGM can be made by any member, as long as they are received by the Secretary at least 28 days before the date of the AGM.

Nominations for the Board of Trustees must be received 28 days before the event. Details are usually published in the newsletter preceding the AGM and further information is available from the office.

Policies

We review all policies each year and try to ensure that they are fully consistent with permaculture ethics and principles. We are happy for other groups to use them as the basis of their own policies and a number of permaculture groups like Brighton Permaculture Trust have done so. Contact us for copies:

  •  Environmental / green housekeeping, including a catering policy developed by Sustain www.sustainweb.org/
  •  Equal Opportunties
  •  Financial Policy (without account, reserves or signatory information)
  •  Health and Safety
  •  Ethical donations

 

Board of Trustees
The Trustees meet four times a year to review monitoring reports, review policy, and consider new directions and proposals. Minutes of meetings are available to members on request. If you want to become a trustee, or have proposals for the Trustees to consider, email Andy Goldring in the first instance.

Board discussion topics
These are set annually in advance and cover a range of issues and challenges. This allows the trustees to keep current of core areas of work - education policy for example, and organisational best practice - communications. The next meeting will discuss the Localism Bill, and future discussion topics are being agreed then and will be posted shortly.