Integrated Systems of Production
A pattern of interactions (a set of bridges) operating according to the principles of a complexity spiral, builds toward an integrated closed loop production system.
Seasonal Chicken Run
We like to let our chickens out on the land because the greens, bugs and worms they eat make the eggs and meat they produce for us more nutritious. However, if you confine chickens to a piece of ground they will quickly strip it of vegetation and make a mud pit.
Principles of Practical Holism
The inertia in the system is real because we are each connected into the system flows by specific bridges (such as a job) and we rely on those bridges for our survival. Because of that it is counterproductive to be thinking about "we, the good guys who want a sustainable world" and "they, the ones that need to change".
The Scott Bader Company
The following excerpt is from E.F Schumacher's Good Work, referring to the Scott Bader Commonwealth with which he worked setting up an employee owned company. Of interest for the purposes of community sufficiency technologies is Schumacher's description of investments in the capacity of the workers to produce for their own consumption.
Be The Change
The system is a pattern of interactions. To change the system is to change the way you interact.
Three Assumptions that Prevent Us from Creating the World that we Want
Every human being, including you, will defend those connections on which they rely for their sustenance. We do not change the world by demanding change from others. We change the world by creating new connections for ourselves.
Community Sufficiency Technologies
There are two ways you can invest your discretionary time and money. You can invest in trying to make a profit, in which case, your investment is subject to all the market forces and the corresponding risks. And/or, you could invest in the capacity to provide for yourself, in which case, for those things, you don't care what happens in the market.
Paradigm Shift
My favorite example of a paradigm shift is the one about natural phenomena. The day before the shift God was in the clouds hurling lightening bolts to punish the wicked.
Growing Our Own: More Than A Lifestyle Choice
The story of the Cook and Gardener Partnership is about a community coming together to find a place for all of its residents to contribute to the well being of the community. We do that first and foremost by producing our own food. The following ideas form the basis for the services that Pat offers to the homeowner clients of CGP.
Suburban Forest Islands: Creatively Use and Respond to Change, and Produce No Waste
Often the design feature of a suburban yard is a big shade tree. What do you do when that big tree in your yard begins to die? For a suburban lot there can perhaps be no greater change.