les Moore

Les Moore

I hold a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and specialise in urban regeneration.
I'm an internationally recognised visiting expert in community currency development and am responsible for innovation and the development of registration services using open money protocols across Europe. I have over 20 years of experience within community currencies, having set up and run a LETSystems and incentive programmes.

In the UK I broaden the interest in Sociocracy (applied dynamic governance) and practice the techniques of sociocratic governance methods during facilitation and workshop sessions. I facilitate strategic and operational working circles of Sociocracy UK and deliver sociocratic training at permaculture courses and events.

I am the co-founder and managing director of UK social enterprises Common Resource Ltd. and East London Food Access Ltd., where I lead on design, development and research. Using my experience of the UK social enterprise and community sectors, I specialise in applied CSR and innovation, and facilitate, chair and manage a portfolio of community projects.

Tammi Dallaston

Tammi Dallaston

I have been registered disabled since having spinal surgery in 2018, and want to extend this newly acquired way of being to continue to assist the Permaculture Association with issues around accessibility and inclusion. I am a neurodiverse, working class, single mum of three; and have fought to feel like an active member of the permaculture community since undertaking my PDC in 1999.

I want to challenge the mindset of the white privileged landowner being the ones that 'can do permaculture' - and show that disabled single mums are just as capable!

I currently teach permaculture with Shift Bristol. and manage Field Families (permaculture at events) - which includes the co-ordination of Glastonbury Festival Permaculture Gardens and the permaculture areas at the Green Gathering.

I'm a founder member of Brighton Permaculture Trust; former manager of Ragmans Lane Farm; ex-Chair and trustee of Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Wildlife Project; and founder member of Permaculture Wales (Paramaethu Cymru).

Tammi joined the Board in 2020.

Andrew de la Haye

Andrew De La Haye

I believe passionately in using permaculture to change the way we grow and consume our food, the way we care for nature, the way we promote biodiversity in all aspects of our lives. I want to see permaculture thinking and practice become mainstream in food production in peoples’ own land, in farming generally, in health, society, education, in fact in all aspects of human life. I want to use my vision/strategic skills as well as the practical change management/people skills and experience to bring about change.
In our garden we invite people who want to make a change to come and have an insight into how we nurture our whole way of life on many levels. We hold open days every month in the spring, summer and autumn. Through this we inspire so many people in different circumstances and provide easy ways into permaculture.

I have an ability to think outside the box. I have spent the last 15 years rediscovering the way the world really works (as opposed to the monetary, materialistic, industrial-scale world) and have very thoroughly explored my alternative paradigm which enables me to see ways to take forward vital programmes like permaculture.

Andrew joined the Board in 2020.

David Hewitt

I joined the Permaculture Association as Treasurer at the end of 2019.
My main career was in the water sector as a Finance Director, including relations with regulators and responsibility for various business plans. I subsequently worked as a consultant in the UK and the Middle East on financial and regulatory projects, and as a part time Finance Director for a parliamentary body.
I have been a charity trustee in the water and education sectors. I am also a trustee, and former Chair, of my local tennis club.
I am enjoying working with new colleagues and trying to put my past experience to good use. This is a stimulating environment to be in. The Association offers much that can help to create a better world.

David joined the Board in 2019.

Bob Mehew

Bob Mehew

Bob Mehew has been practising permaculture for 10 years after having completed a design course with Patrick Whitelfield. He is over half-way through a diploma, which was largely put on hold in 2015 due to taking on Huxhams Cross Farm with The Apricot Centre - a new biodynamic farm in Dartington, Devon. Bob has created highly efficient farming and back-office systems to facilitate the growing and selling of seasonal vegetables, fruit, eggs, preserved products and flour and has helped rapidly scale the business to achieve a farm-side turnover of £150,000 in under 5 years. Bob is currently focussing on operationalising a new business called Dartington Mill which is reclaiming grains at a local level for farmers, millers and bakers, producing exceptional quality flour from modern and traditional grain varieties.

Bob’s origins are however not in farming but Information Technology with a specialisation in business process engineering and in later years in project management for the IT sector and local government. Completing the PDC was a turning point that led Bob to embrace permaculture and utilise it to create his current lifestyle.
Bob’s current focus is the ‘business-side’ of permaculture, how to get projects onto a financially sustainable footing, seeking to inspire students with a new course - The ECO-nomics of Permaculture’.

Bob joined the Board in 2020.

Scott Moncur

Scott Moncur

I believe that Permaculture is in a sweet spot able to take advantage of the increasing awareness of the bad outcomes from current food production and land management. The organisation has a rare opportunity to promote itself, and become financially successful in providing design and business plans for moving food production to permaculture principals. I want to be part of that.

A keen acolyte of permaculture practice, I believe my experience (including convener of Finance Audit & Risk of a £2 million turnover charity) and a lawyer of nearly three decades experience negotiating and concluding tricky situations would be a useful addition to the skill set of the board particularly in

Articulating and promoting the members moral ownership of the organisation
Establishing implementing and monitoring board and organisational performance against objectives
Interfacing between the board, members and permaculture management and staff to ensure open transparent governance, consistent with permaculture policies Setting achievable and stretch goals and aims for the organisation promoting permaculture inside and outside the organisation
Supporting board members in their personal development
Delivering to Board objectives and good decision making for good outcomes for organisation members and board participants establishing performance metrics to evidence that performance and exercise of its power intra vires/within its boundary scope.
Scott joined the Board in 2020.

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Anne-Marie Mayer

I took my Permaculture Design Certificate in 1992 when I was a member of the Kingston upon Thames Permaculture group. My interest started through working on a demonstration site and starting a Local Exchange Trading System – both are still going. I have since been applying the Principles and Ethics of Permaculture to my work in International Nutrition and Agriculture, whilst working for a variety of International Organisations. My current interests are Permaculture and Nutrition in the Global South and Monitoring and Evaluation of Permaculture projects.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why? 

‘Integrate rather than segregate’. I am forever referring to this principle in my work in International Development and Science. It is a reminder to work across disciplines and see the connections and interdependencies. The default is often reductionism, separate departments, separate sectors, separate objectives, whereas by learning from nature we are reminded that everything is connected and we ignore this at our peril.

Why do we need permaculture in the world? 

Because it is a very robust system of ethics and principles that are needed today more than ever. We need the sort of joined up thinking and designs that permaculture offers and these can be applied in every walk of life - from gardens, farms to communities, planning, financial systems and to ourselves too. 

 

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Carla Moss

I’m a life coach and permaculture educator (senior tutor for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture) and Permaculture Design Certificate teacher. I'm based in West Yorkshire in a semi with a garden and an allotment. 

No pets just birds, hedgehogs and other wild and free roaming creatures.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why?  

‘Everything Gardens’ for its reminder that we are a very small part of a much much bigger system, and that every choice has an impact on something else.

Why do we need permaculture in the world?  

Because it takes us back to the basics of interconnection and purposeful design, that can provide answers and solutions to our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.

 

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Dominic Howe

I'm an architect, environmentalist, and permaculture designer, blending two decades of architectural expertise with a passion for ecology, agroforestry, and regenerative food systems. I am fascinated by the convergence of these disciplines, and the exploration of integrated systems design, to create ecologically and economically viable futures.
In 2023, I launched Earth Systems Co, an environmental studio founded on permaculture principles. My work is dedicated to developing impactful solutions to pressing environmental challenges, driving nature recovery, and fostering climate-resilient, regenerative practices for a healthier planet.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why? 

"Integrate Rather Than Segregate" Is the principle that resonates the most. For me it represents Permaculture, as a framework for 'whole systems thinking,' which promotes integrated design, drawing inspiration from the interconnected complex systems of nature.
Integration also speaks to the power of collaboration, and the combined power of people and movements, to leverage greater impact and systemic change in addressing the global challenges we face.

Why do we need permaculture in the world? 

Permaculture gives us the tools to tackle the unprecedented environmental challenges that we face today. The ethics, principles, and philosophy of the permaculture framework allow us to develop effective integrated systems, bring humanity back into balance with the natural world, and work within safe planetary boundaries.
Through permaculture, we can operate in ecologically viable ways, working with nature to protect Earth's natural capital and fostering regenerative, climate-resilient futures for our species to co-exist in equilibrium with the planet.

 

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Gihan Soliman

I've been interested in permaculture for years and entered it among the UN stakeholders’ commitments for the ‘Future We Want’ since the Rio+20 Earth Summit 2012 in Brazil. My knowledge and enthusiasm for permaculture arise from my belief in regenerative food production, resilient communities, the depth of indigenous knowledge, and the imperative circularity of viable natural systems. Permaculture in this respect also relates to my interest in cybernetics, which is the observation of self-governance in living-systems including animals, machines, and social organisations. I’m a registered food scientist and a qualified lifelong educator. My current projects include funded scientific and grass-roots collaboration with Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean for fungal conservation,- which has direct links to permaculture practices and a powerful impact on sustainability and livelihood in indigenous communities.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why? 

'Observe and interact’. Observation is what makes us (humans) special, connecting the wisdom of past experiences to the vibrancy of the current moment and the outlook for a prosperous future. Interactive observation is the backbone of scientific inquiry and the seed of synergy among people, as well as harmony with nature. Observation complements every other principle of permaculture.

Why do we need permaculture in the world? 

Permaculture is the hope for a future, if we’re to have one. Permaculture stands on three pillars: care for people and communities; care for the land and its fascinating biodiversity; and fair sharing, which is the economy of healthy abundance, voluntary cooperation, equality, and reciprocity. It’s what our world needs today to heal and prosper.
 

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Hugo Bass

I’m an Architect with a focus on permaculture and agroecological design. My ambition is to work with people and organisations to design places that support life and abundance, sequester carbon, increase biodiversity and offer people an alternative way of seeing the world. Whether this be working alongside farmers on broad acreage, or on a small community food forest project, I believe we can create opportunities through design to offer people insight, skills and new choices. I believe that in harmonizing with the way we interact with nature, and its diverse ecological systems, we can re-connect with our roots, and hope to find a deeper purpose and meaning in our lives, work, and relationships with others.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why? 

If I had to choose a favourite permaculture principle it would be ‘Integrate rather than segregate.’  The current system seems to tend towards segregation, even in some of the most populated places on earth, people can feel isolated and out of touch with their community and with the natural world. Niche specialties and professions often offer very myopic viewpoints, which don’t always serve to promote holistic and integrated systems thinking. Society therefore needs new ways to connect and integrate as we navigate pathways ‘beyond sustainability.’

Why do we need permaculture in the world? 

I believe strongly in the importance of permaculture, as it provides an insightful and accessible design framework for creating three dimensional, ecological systems that support all forms of life, whilst providing us with access to food, community, and opportunities for personal development. As a global society I believe we need to consider how we design our cities and homes so that they tessellate with the mosaic of a progressive agroecological future. This will be a huge undertaking, however permaculture offers us a brilliant toolkit and foundation of knowledge to help us on this collective global mission.
 

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Samuel Yisrael

Sammuel is a passionate speaker dedicated to making a difference in peoples' lives. Recognised by the Prime Minister, along with his partner Natasha, for their outstanding contribution to the community bringing about positive change. He is a fervent advocate for personal wellbeing using the permaculture principles as a method of support venerable people to develop inner resilience.

As one of the founders of Sol Haven - Winners of the Lush Spring Prize, Sammuel shares his vision is to explore, develop and create a practical environment that can be used to determine a better today and brighter tomorrow. By involving people who have very real needs today, the project encapsulates a genuine chance to change lives and build a community.

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Sonja Breuer

I'm a Herbal Medicine Expert with an Ayurveda MSc.(MDX University, London), seeking the highest quality herbal medicine, including natural weeds, grown with ecological methods to maximize potency. I currently reside in the Malaga region of Spain on a farm, I am aspiring to establish a Bed and Breakfast (B&B) where people can experience the goodness of natural, locally grown food.

What is your favourite permaculture principle and why?

'Obtain a Yield' because, for me, it's about making a meaningful impact on both food and natural medicine. Having previously worked in business development (sales) for a Food Market Research Company, I can see an opportunity for consumer education,  enhancing the demand for real food and herbs grown with permaculture methods.

Why do we need permaculture in the world?

The necessity of permaculture in the world is evident - only through ecological growing methods, aiming to restore soil to its pre-industrial top quality, can we achieve food with truly high nutrient content, encompassing antioxidants and cancer-fighting properties.While humanity has historically used plants for both food and medicine, the automatic assumption of let 'food be your medicine, and medicine be your food' as per Hippocrates, is no longer true, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices to avoid potential toxic effects.