Permaculture and the Built Environment: Building resilience through effective planning and design

Jesse Watson will introduce ​some principles​ of Permaculture Design as they relate to the built environment. He will explore ​how permaculture is being used to create ecologically and economically resilient properties. This will include a simple survey of techniques to illustrate how landscape elements and management strategies can make the built environment more energy efficient. Steve Whitman will then explain the interface between this ecological approach to land use change and municipal plans and regulations. This includes identifying potential regulatory barriers to good design and development, and the opportunities that exist locally to guide land use change in a direction that makes each of our communities more ecologically intact and resilient.

Interested in learning more about permaculture & its design principles? Check out Permaculture 101: A Design Tool for Grassroots Environmental & Social Change Work.

Presenters:

  • Jesse Watson - Jesse Watson is a permaculture designer, ​educator and builder living and working in Midcoast Maine. He operates Midcoast Permaculture Design (midcoastpermaculture.com), serving the design and installation needs of residential and farm clients. He maintains a one-acre demonstration site that includes small scale agroforestry systems with poultry as integrated livestock. He partners with The Resilience Hub to offer permaculture certification courses in Maine and Boston. Jesse helped organize the Northeast Permaculture Convergence as the principal logistics coordinator in 2010 and 2014. He now serves on the board of PINE, the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast.
  • Steve Whitman - Steven Whitman is a professional planner and educator based in New Hampshire and his work is focused largely on community planning and sustainability issues. Steve is a certified permaculture teacher, and is also an adjunct faculty member at Plymouth State University, Colby Sawyer College, and Green Mountain College. Steve frequently teaches courses in the US and internationally in environmental planning, community planning, permaculture, natural building and sustainability. Steve lives in Plymouth, NH and participates in a wide range of grassroots efforts that promote community resilience.