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Permaculture �for Agile Teams

Amy Wagner | Agile Cambridge | 29 June 2022

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Question policy

Clarifications on the exercise OK
Queries, discussion and anecdotes: in your sharing time + at the end
On Slack / in person after the workshop

@amyeee

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Hi, I’m Amy.

I’m an independent Agile Coach.

I’m also a �Permaculture Designer.

@amyeee

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Agenda

Introduction to Permaculture and its relevance to Agile teams
Exercise:
Use selected Permaculture Principles as thinking tools
Help you reflect on your team, product, service or challenge in the context of the climate emergency.
Share ideas as we go
Next steps for you or your team

@amyeee

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Quick intro to Permaculture

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Permaculture =

Permanent Agriculture

@amyeee

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Permaculture =

Permanent Culture

@amyeee

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“a global movement [...] working to create the world we want, by providing for our needs and working in harmony with nature”

@amyeee

David Holmgren, Retrosuburbia

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Permaculture typically looks like this

@amyeee

before Permaculture

after Permaculture

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And this…

@amyeee

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Permaculture fills in some missing bits in Agile

@amyeee

(and much more)

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@amyeee

Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash

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To what end? �For what purpose?

@amyeee

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1-3%

Estimated total global carbon emissions from tech sector

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/publications/report-fog-of-enactment/#what-about-global-estimates

@amyeee

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@amyeee

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/publications/report-fog-of-enactment/#what-about-global-estimates

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What does a shift to a sustainable internet look like?

@amyeee

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@amyeee

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/what-people-think-building-a-sustainable-internet-involves-vs-what-it-might-actually-be/

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What society are �we building?

@amyeee

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

When we start asking ourselves ‘why’, we start to ask these questions.

Example - like ride sharing platforms, e.g. Uber, Lyft, others… sometimes have unintended consequences.

In our efforts to build a car sharing or ride sharing culture, are we accidentally make car transportation more efficient and easier, which could potentially result in people using less green transportation - like bikes or trains or buses.

Or conditions where workers have little to no rights, poor working conditions and no say in the platform their efforts are sustaining?

Are we accidentally building a less-green, less socially-democratic world?

(Jevons paradox refers to the phenomenon where the increase of efficiency in the use of a resource leads to more use of the resource. Jevons originally noticed in 1865 that the development of more fuel-efficient steam engines resulted in an increased total use of coal: the falling cost of coal increased its demand and negated the gains.)

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Permaculture Ethics

@amyeee

EARTH CARE

PEOPLE CARE

FAIR SHARE

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Building a ‘Permanent Culture’

Early focus on permanent, perennial agriculture systems
Influenced by ecology + systems theory + Indigenous cultures
Holmgren + Mollison Principles

@amyeee

1978

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Original Permaculture publications and principles

‘Permacomputing’ Principles

@amyeee

1988

2002

2022

new!

1991

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Exercise: Permaculture Principles* as thinking tools

(*not all the principles)

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What is your response to the climate emergency?

@amyeee

(and how can �Permaculture help?)

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Exercise

Principle

One idea per post-it

Using the principle as inspiration, what action ideas do you have for a response to the climate emergency?

1 min to brainstorm

3 mins to share at your table

@amyeee

EXAMPLE PRINCIPLE

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Observe and interact

Invest time in observation, survey �and discovery. ��Then, design & test solutions for your particular situation.

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 1

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9 ways of observing

(Starhawk and Mollison)

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 1

Observe and interact

‘I wonder…’
Energy
Flow
Communities
Patterns
Edges
Limits
Stillness
Past and Future

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Exercise

Observe and interact

One idea per post-it

What can you do to observe and interact with your response to the climate emergency?

1 min to brainstorm

3 mins to share at your table

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 1

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Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 1

Observe and interact

Diverse tech workforces
Regenerative business models
Accessible tech
Care for the unseen communities that feel the burdens arising from digital tech
The Right to Repair
Slowing down and creating less
Decision making that values quality of life, not growth and profit
Open source / distributive enterprises
Using renewable energy
Efficient tech

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Audit your product or service

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 1

Observe and interact

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@amyeee

@mrchrisadams

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Catch and store energy

Use and value renewable resources �and services

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 2

By developing systems that collect resources when they’re abundant, we can use them in times of need.

Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 5

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Earthship

@amyeee

Photo by Dominic Alves on Flickr

An Earthship is a classic example from Permaculture. They integrate a greenhouse in summer, usually have a big thermal mass wall that heats up during the summer and releases that heat in the winter, rainwater harvesting… a complete efficient system in a house.

Dominic Alves

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/3288477463/in/photostream/

This is the Brighton Earthship located near Stanmer Park, Brighton, East Sussex.

The Earthship - the first built in the UK - is an experimental sustainable development which includes the following features: photovoltaic solar cells, collection of rainwater from the roof, a windmill, using the thermal storage property of the ground (by building "hobbit like" into a hillside), reuse of rubber tires as a building material for the walls.

No one lives here, but regular tours are available by arrangement.

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Exercise

Catch and store energy | Use and value renewable resources and services

One idea per post-it

What actions does this inspire for your response to the climate emergency?

3 mins to share at your table

1 min to brainstorm

@amyeee

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Example

Schedule jobs for times of grid or energy abundance

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 2

Catch and store energy

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Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLES

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Check your domains

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 5

Use and value renewable resources and services

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Agile in the City example:

Bristol 2019

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 5

Use and value renewable resources and services

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Cycling of energy, nutrients, resources

Produce no waste

MOLLISON PRINCIPLE

Keep the energy flow within the system. Use incoming natural energies with those generated on-site to ensure a complete energy cycle.

Waste is just an unused output.

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 6

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Compost

@amyeee

Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash

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Compost

@amyeee

Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash

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Exercise

Cycling of energy, nutrients, resources | Produce no waste

One idea per post-it

What actions does this inspire for your response to the climate emergency?

3 mins to share at your table

1 min to brainstorm

@amyeee

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Example

@amyeee

MOLLISON/HOLMGREN PRINCIPLES

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Example

@amyeee

MOLLISON/HOLMGREN PRINCIPLES

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Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 4

Keep your system in balance - remove spirals of erosion. Set limits on consumption.

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Do you really need those over-zealous, 100% up-time disaster recovery strategies?

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 4

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

Photo by Marc Szeglat on Unsplash

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Exercise

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

One idea per post-it

What actions does this inspire for your response to the climate emergency?

1 min to brainstorm

3 mins to share at your table

@amyeee

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Do you really need those over-zealous, 100% up-time disaster recovery strategies?

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 4

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

Photo by Marc Szeglat on Unsplash

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Example

@amyeee

Setting limits on consumption - key policy for IPCC

Source: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_chapter9.pdf

“Personal carbon allowance”

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 4

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

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Integrate rather than segregate

Use and value �diversity

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE

A healthy, vibrant ecosystem is a mass of connections and relationships. Relationships develop between elements and they support each other.

Diversity reduces vulnerability and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE

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Plant guilds and food forests

@amyeee

Knepp Estate Walled Garden, photo by Amy Wagner

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@amyeee

Woody Zuill, photo by Amy Wagner

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Exercise

Integrate rather than segregate | Use and value diversity

One idea per post-it

What actions does this inspire for your response to the climate emergency?

3 mins to share at your table

1 min to brainstorm

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 10

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Problems are interconnected. When we look at single systems we miss the effects of their interactions.

Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 8

Integrate rather than segregate

🌏

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/reskilling-for-climate-justice-5-things-to-let-go/

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Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 8

Integrate rather than segregate

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/reskilling-for-climate-justice-5-things-to-let-go/

Ecosystem

do 1st

do 2nd

do 3rd

do 4th

❌

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Example

@amyeee

HOLMGREN PRINCIPLE 8

Integrate rather than segregate

Source: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/reskilling-for-climate-justice-5-things-to-let-go/

Ecosystem

do 1st

✅

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Diversity makes us stronger

@amyeee

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What impact does your team have on the biosphere?

@amyeee

Photo by Coralie Meurice on Unsplash

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Permaculture Ethics

@amyeee

EARTH CARE

PEOPLE CARE

FAIR SHARE

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What society are �we building?

@amyeee

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

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Now what?

@amyeee

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It’s not enough to make changes as an individual

@amyeee

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0.000000003

@amyeee

(average American’s contribution to global emissions)

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Everything you do

needs to create ripples

larger than just yourself

@amyeee

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Share or be inspired by the ideas this room. �I will photograph and share on Miro: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOp01Z-w=/?share_link_id=536221146778

Learn from others, consider the whole system impact, collaborate, take action!

@amyeee

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https://climateaction.tech/

https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/

https://knowledgebase.permaculture.org.uk/principles

@amyeee

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Thanks!

@amyeee

amy@helloperennial.com

www.helloperennial.com

www.rivermead.eco

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Amy’s session notes

1 hour workshop, Tues 1:30
Max 50 people, in person
4 tables of 8, 2 tables of 9
Post-its and flip chart paper on each table for sharing.
Collate all ideas for a shared Miro board as we go / at the end.

Fully timed Agenda

1:30 - Hellos, choose a seat, late-comers (5 mins)

1:35 - Start introduction (14 mins)

1:49 - Exercise (36 mins total)

1:49 - Principle 1 (6 mins)

1:55 - Principle 2 (6 mins)

2:01 - Principle 3 (6 mins)

2:07 - Principle 4 (6 mins)

2:13 - Principle 5 (6 mins)

(6 mins of contingency)

2:25 - Conclusion (5 mins)