Permaculture Scotland gathering 2018 - Workshops

Key note speaker

Guided tour of community growing sites and experience in a post-industrial community

A short presentation on the environmental impact of industrial textile production followed by discussion of alternatives and drawing up a possible plan of action.

The challenges we face are huge. We need to find ways to work together across organisations and networks if we are to have any chance of overcoming them. Andy will present some of the design work and practical action underway towards this, including work of the global Permaculture CoLab, the CTRLshift event and how the Permaculture Association is developing its strategy to better engage members and other partners. Permaculture is a big part of the solution, but not all of it. We will explore how we can work with others for an earth care, people care, fair shares future.

How can you get twice as much from your land as Chemical Farmers with little effort and great other outputs for friends and family?

A world cafe session to prioritise and identify issues of concern in public policy eg. food security, built environment, education.  We will look at how we can best promote a permaculture perspective.

Identify and map the various sectors and areas in our lives to outline where we are emotionally and catch leaks of energy and attention. I hope to give a toolkit to use permaculture principles to encompass people and self care and enable us to make changes in subtle ways to increase wellbeing and self understanding. 

Attitudes to money - why do we find it so hard to talk about our finances? What is money and how can we use it to reshape our future? The relationship between debt and sustainability, money creation and tax. Looking at debt/finance from historical and multicultural perspectives and exploring alternative economic models.

Using movement to feel good! A little Salsa, Belly, Ballet, Rock n Roll, Boogie and Swing. Some props and some fun!

We will be exploring the connection based approach of Hand in Hand Parenting: why connection is an essential (scientifically proven) need of all children, how children deal with broken connection, and how we can help them to heal and reconnect by listening through their big feelings. Hand in Hand offers four simple yet powerful listening tools that all parents can use with their children (as well as a parent-to-parent listening support tool) to help transform difficult family dynamics and restore warmth, joy and laughter to the vital work of parenting. In this workshop we will cover a couple of listening tools that you will be able to take home and use right away with your child. 

I want to talk about harvesting seaweed sustainably and balancing that with working for a commercial enterprise. I will have samples of seaweed and information on the many personal and environmental benefits of mindfully using this abundant crop. 

 A discussion looking at local and seasonal plant remedies;  tips on gathering and using wild plants for food and medicine, some useful multi-function garden plants, easy recipes, and some pointers to resources.  For anyone interested in more sustainable and earth-friendly health and self-care strategies. 

Hand spinning wool. flax. hemp. alpaca, silk, angora, yak, etc. Mostly with spinning wheel but also spindles for group to try. Will include  rare breed indigenous sheep fleeces.

Permaculture has developed into a way of thinking and way of acting for the future. In this sense it aligns well with notions of sustainable development, which offers different ways of conceptualising the world and alternative ways of living in order to achieve visions of healthy, just societies living within environmental limits. In this participatory workshop we will use activities and discussion to reflect on principles and practices of sustainability and possible implications for permaculture – and for sustainable development. We will move beyond the now shaky 3 legged stool to the IUCN egg of wellbeing and the Oxfam doughnut models! The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals were developed after input from 7 million people and a strong grassroots lobby – how might we engage with them at personal, local, national and international levels? 

A guided walk around the site to learn what's safe to eat in the hedgerow and woodland.

Open garden, discussion, questions & answers guided by the visitors. An example of a permaculture garden enriching family life 

This is a hands-on workshop to explain the dynamics of a healthy soil and learn how to sustain a living fertile soil using a combination of plant rotation, mycorrhizal fungi and earthworms. The learners will learn how to deal with earthworm whether in soil or in compost heap. 

Adaptation Scotland produces information for communities about how they should start thinking about adapting to climate changes in the short and long term. How should Permaculture designs begin to incorporate these ideas?

We shall cook a nettle haggis on the fire and dabble in gaelic plant names for common forgeable species of this time of year. 

Can we find a natural way to build in the 21st Century? How can the activity of building places help us reinforce our humanity while rediscovering our place as animals in the global environment. We'll share our experience of recent projects and discuss the opportunities, challenges and vision.

This will be a drumming/percussion workshop building towards performing a short piece of music. On the way there'll be some vocalising, a little singing, an experiment with pulse rates, giving everyone the chance to lead the group and maybe some improvising of soundscapes. The main thing is to come armed with something loud to bash.