Funding Circle Incubation Archived meeting notes

The Funding Circle Logbook is in the Permaculture CoLab’s “NextCloud” account. The LogBook is the location where we take our notes for Circle meetings. NextCloud is an ethical alternative to Google Drive, which uses far less energy for the servers to run, and it allows us to own our own data. You can click on the link above to see the Logbook, but we pasted some highlights from the last meeting here below.

Please note we are no longer using the Log Book – Notes from the third meeting onwards can be found in the miro board.


First Meeting: 2021-01-25

Participants and their “Experience” and “Interests”:

  • Andy Goldring, Permaculture Association of Britain (UK)
    Experience: Organizational fundraising. Interest: As fiscal sponsor, collect the funding, review applications, and help group. move forward, wants to help clarify ways people can connect to this circle, wants to help tease out roles in the group
  • Padma Koppula, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives (India)
    Experience: raised fund for IPC and NGO. Interest: learn and share experience
  • Margrethe Holzer, International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) (Austria)
    Experience: distributed scholarship funds for International Permaculture Convergences (IPCs).
  • John Nzira, Ukuvuna, ReScope, and International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) (South Africa)
    Experience: raising funds for IPC and NGO, work with Permafund, monitoring and evaluation and measuring impact.
  • Bermericke Bisimwa Dusabe, RURAL Foundation LDT (Uganda)
    Experience: on ground hub incubator in East Africa.
  • Hans Ryding (Sweden)
    Experience: 15 years experience grassroots fundraising, connecting to EU funds. Interest: strategic side of funding, collaborate on future applications, can’t commit now but can help when more details are laid out (which he can plug into).
  • Hannah Apricot Eckberg, Abundant Earth Foundation (USA)
    Experience: raised over 300K through nonprofit. Interest: share experience and learning, help bring investors to projects, support US projects (can’t commit to main group).
  • Jillian Hovey, The Permaculture CoLab, and The Sustainable Living Network (Canada)
    Experience: raised funds for nonprofit and supported other projects. Interest: help get things started, help refine aims, create a robust Permaculture CoLab Funding Ecosystem to support the global permaculture community.
  • Lauren Minis, Permaculture CoLab, and Regeneration Pollination (USA)
    Experience: writing a couple of grants. Interest: helping set up funding circle, seeing how she can support pooling of funds for global projects and livelihoods.
  • Aimee Fenech, The Permaculture CoLab, and EcoHacker Farm (Germany)
    Experience: EU funding and local initiatives, writing proposal in CoLab. Interest: starting the funding circle and make sure it becomes self-sustaining.

Second Full Funding Circle Meeting

Agenda for meeting 2021-04-19

  • 14:00 – 14:10   Welcome & Overview of Agenda
  • 14:10 – 14:40   Introductions: Where you are calling from, Why you are interested in supporting the development of the Funding Circle
  • 14:40 – 14:50   History of the Permaculture CoLab & Questions
  • 14:50 – 15:00   Sociocracy & Funding Circle
  • Short Bio Break
  • 15:00 – 15:35  Mission & Aims – Break Out Rooms
  • 15:35 – 15:50  Harvest & Discussion
  • 15:50 – 16:00  Next Steps Check Out

Participants:

with a bit about their backgrounds, and their availability to be involved in the Funding Circle, With time zones, in “sun-wise” order around the world …

  • Christina Sayson, Permaculture CoLab (The Philippines, UTC+8)
    Stewarding forming the Global South Permaculture Network, a place for people to be empowered to exchange resources and talk with one another. Observing and happy to connect about micro-finance (knows the pitfalls).
  • Narsanna Koppula, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives (India, UTC+5.5)
    Invites people to become permaculture designers and teachers, building a network in the country. Seeks support from the international level and supports capacity of local communities. Can’t participate much right now.
  • Padma Koppula, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives (India, UTC+5.5)
    Helps communities develop farms, helps children to learn permaculture, develops school campuses with permaculture approaches, works with indigenous communities in tribal areas, developes strategies for farmers in drought areas, permaculture education courses, supports awareness programs for farmers, develops 100 farmers with animal integration to regenerate. Wants to support CoLab and seek support from international experts. Will look for support where required.
  • Sneha Koppula, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives (India, UTC+5.5)
    She just finished Master’s in the US. Helping develop curriculum. Focusing on children taking permaculture to schools. Documenting indigenous knowledge in local communities. Manages interns on the farm. Wants to meet more of the 1st generation permies. Observing and happy to be a bridge for her parents.
  • Bermericke Bisimwa Dusabe, RURAL Foundation LDT (Uganda, UTC+3)
    Permaculture teacher and Permayouth mentor, deals with refugees in a settlement (and works with refugees in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi), is doing urban permaculture design with refugees.
  • John Nzira, Ukuvuna, ReScope, and International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) (South Africa, UTC+2)
    Develops city hubs for sustainable development in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and others southern countries – for urban spaces to be able to produce food that’s required. Project in Rimpopo – hub that’s a school, driven by permaculture community. Hub in Zimbabwe that’s a homestead to fully develop food. Links with universities, local ecologies, council, political leaders, departments connected to work they’re doing like environmental sectors and forestry sector. Working on a project in Zimbabwe to plant over 12,000 trees (edible like macadamia, pecan, avocados and citrus), a tool to rehabilitate degraded lands. Also serves with Margreth in IPCC distributing funds. There’s need for research, monitoring and evaluation, assessment of quality of permaculture programs in communities.
  • Margrethe Holzer, International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) (Austria, UTC+2)
    International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC), supports the Permaculture Academy in Alpine regions organizing aroud the need for online courses, works in community gardens, works in the local garden, works with Julius Piti in Foret in Zimbabwe. Has helped distribute funds for international meetings to those who are in regions who can’t afford. Main interest to see connection with IPCC and meetings, see development in Africa.
  • Aimee Fenech, The Permaculture CoLab, and EcoHacker Farm (Germany, UTC+2)
    Member of the Permaculture CoLab, part of EcoHacker Farm.
  • Andy Goldring, Permaculture Association of Britain (UK, UTC+1)
    CEO of the Permaculture Association of Britain, Permaculture teacher in Leeds, invovled in Our Future Leeds – a citywide project to develop a carbon nature friendly, socially just Leeds by the 2030’s. Doesn’t have a lot of time but has a lot of experience getting funds.
  • Jillian Hovey, The Permaculture CoLab, and The Sustainable Living Network (Canada, UTC-4)
    Member of the Permaculture CoLab, founded the Sustainable Living Network.
  • Jane Hayes, The Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA), (Toronto, Canada, UTC-4)
    Does community development work, is on the board of PINA. Will watch the patterns here and see how it can be amplified/echoed, wants to see how to bring more money to work locally and connect in globally.
  • Lauren Minis, Permaculture CoLab, and Regeneration Pollination (USA, UTC-6)
    Member of the Permaculture CoLab, and organizer for Regeneration Pollination.
  • Chad Thiessen, Futures Forward (British Columbia, Canada, UTC-7)
    Supporting creating regenerative economies in Kenya, regenerative venture funding ecosystem. Likes to get things done, not talk details, wants to support tails so they can be deeply connected to the center.

Notes from the third meeting onwards can be found in the miro board.