Diversity and Decolonization Community Pot

by | May 18, 2023

Diversity and Decolonisation Community Pot

The diversity and decolonisation community pot supports diversity and decolonisation work within the CoLab using two methods of access: diversity stipends for participation of people from a diverse background to contribute to existing projects and diversity grants which cover training and aligned events.

Project Aims 

For the diversity stipend: to provide funding assistance to individual CoLab members access to paid work within CoLab projects teams already in place.

For the diversity grant: to provide funding to groups working on training and education with the theme of diversity and decolonisation.

Funded with 15, 000 GBP through next steps
STATUS : ongoing

Team

Aimee Fenech, Jyo Maan

Reporting Officer: Aimee Fenech

Area

Diversity, participation and engagement, Network weaving, Next Steps project

objectives 2023

Support diversity & decolonization activities, training & participation in the International Permaculture Colab.

OUTCOMEs 2023

Stipends provided in 2023:

2 Stipends to work in the Tepla Gora Eco-Market Team
1 Stipend to work on reviewing diversity course within the Learn Team
1 Stipend for individual to manage the Diversity Grant within the Next Steps Project Manager function

Grants provided in 2023:

3 person team to work on Stories to Decolonize Permaculture
2 person team to work on online training course material – Designing Work Spaces for All
2 person team to work on digitizing the In-person Workshop around Inclusion in Workplace to online workshop

objectives 2024

Support diversity & decolonization activities, training & participation in the International Permaculture Colab.

outcomes 2024

The grant has not attracted many applications from eligible applicants and within the remit. We will seek to address this next year. The coordinator role will also be redesigned to make it a more attractive position.

objectives 2025

Support diversity & decolonization activities, training & participation in the International Permaculture Colab.

outcomes 2025

resources created

Designing Work Spaces For All online course

Form for Stories to Decolonize Permaculture

MVA – Inclusion Practice Labs Outline

Diversity & Decolonization Community Pot Info Session Recording

Diversity & Decolonization Community Pot: Information Session Presentation

Equitable Wage Guide 

contact links

contact@perma.earth

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Welcoming and Community Garden Conversations

by | May 12, 2023

Welcoming and Community Garden Conversations

Welcoming and induction in the CoLab community using different modes of engagement (eg one to one, on-boarding, events etc). Monthly onboarding calls, ad-hoc one to one calls, mid-yearly events to promote and highlight projects and initiatives in the colab and the wider network.

An invitation to come to the table, weaving projects and connections for resilience, collaboration, and scaffolding.

 

Please note that from 2024 the Welcome Gardening Project also encompasses the Skill Mapping and Community Platform Facilitation projects. 

Funded with 15, 000 GBP through next steps
STATUS : ongoing

Team

Jyo Maan, Aimee Fenech, Nenad Maljkovic

Reporting Officer: Aimee Fenech

Area

Circle incubation and nourishment, Diversity, participation and engagement, Network weaving, Next Steps project

objectives 2023

1. Co-design facilitated calls in line with the frequency outlined in the higher objectives:
– Monthly onboarding.
– Mid-yearly community weaving.

2. Offer adhoc one-to-one calls to members of the CoLab when needed e.g. if they express a wish to become active quickly in one or more circles or working groups.

3. Raw meeting recordings, chat history & any notes accessible through a shared drive for half yearly community contributors gatherings.

4. Digestible artifacts, eg. Pre-call welcoming email with the Communications Coordinator: who we are, what we are doing, what you can expect and what we expect of you and after an onboarding call: what now, who to talk to, where to go, skills mapping update request.

5. Closing triangles – matching people coming in with spaces and people in the ecosystem to help them orient themselves e.g. project / person looking for funding refer to Tanya in the funding circle, add person to the channel and show them how to find the funding opportunities database.

6. Brief follow up some months in, how are people doing, are they active, if no, why not, what additional support could be available?

7. Retrospective of on-boarding and engagement process to turn learnings into process improvements ongoing and annual.

OUTCOMEs 2023

1. Co-design facilitated calls in line with the frequency outlined in the higher objectives:
– Monthly onboarding.
– Mid-yearly community weaving.

2. Offer adhoc one-to-one calls to members of the CoLab when needed e.g. if they express a wish to become active quickly in one or more circles or working groups.

3. Raw meeting recordings, chat history & any notes accessible through a shared drive for half yearly community contributors gatherings.

4.  Digestible artifacts, eg. Pre-call welcoming email with the Communications Coordinator: who we are, what we are doing, what you can expect and what we expect of you and after an onboarding call: what now, who to talk to, where to go, skills mapping update request.

5. Closing triangles – matching people coming in with spaces and people in the ecosystem to help them orient themselves e.g. project / person looking for funding refer to Tanya in the funding circle, add person to the channel and show them how to find the funding opportunities database.

6. PARTIALLY MET: Brief follow up some months in, how are people doing, are they active, if no, why not, what additional support could be available? – additional support aspects have not had the time to follow.

7. Retrospective of on-boarding and engagement process to turn learnings into process improvements ongoing and annual. 

 

objectives 2024

1. Promote and participate in Conversational Community Gardening. – present in research, education, digital and human technology, on-boarding & engagement.

2. Welcoming and induction in the community using different modes of engagements.

3. Maintenance of existing community database and making this accessible to the community.

4. Community platform facilitation.

Outcomes 2024

The welcome gardening team holds monthly onboarding calls for new colab members and existing members who have been inactive for a while. We offer one-to-one calls for members who wish to discuss their engagement within the CoLab in more detail.

During this year we have been testing different engagement patterns to bridge the gap between entering a new space and becoming active and engaged in the CoLab activities. In the beginning of the year, we organized campfire meetings and we moved into other types of activities which included producing two videos to highlight how the membership benefits and illustrate how the CoLab works. By undertaking such activities we are now engaging the most active members, creating spaces for their voices and experiences to be heard. In addition, it is also a fertile ground for anyone coming into the Colab, to learn of its inner workings and be drawn to the ones that are the torch bearers of International Permaculture CoLab community.

Our work also includes taking care of the CoLab slack workspace and making the community skills database a useful and used resource in the CoLab ecosystem.

objectives 2025

1. Promote and participate in Conversational Community Gardening. – present in research, education, digital and human technology, on-boarding & engagement.

2. Welcoming and induction in the community using different modes of engagements.

3. Maintenance of existing community database and making this accessible to the community.

4. Community platform facilitation.

Outcomes 2025

September Updates

The monthly and adhoc onboarding calls for new CoLab members and existing CoLab members who would like to refresh their overview of the CoLab continue on an ongoing basis currently hosted by Aimee but soon to be hosted by Jyo and Abhisek as they complete their onboarding traning. Another training round will be open soon, this is your opportunity to join the team of onboarders to welcome and inform new members as they come into the space.

We are working on a guidelines document for community platform admins that is platform agnostic since the CoLab will be moving to a new open source platform in the coming months.
One of our platform admins Nenad will be leaving the team and he will be handing over to other members of the team. If this is of interest to you please contact the Welcome Circle.

We have been conducting a review of our services through surveying the members and results from this will be published soon.

resources created

How the CoLab works: Governance

Benefits of CoLab Membership

contact links

 

Welcome Circle Page

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Communications, Outreach and Engagement

by | May 12, 2023

Communications, Outreach and Engagement

The Communications, Outreach and Engagement project is quite broad and wide-reaching. 

It has several aims;

  • To enhance communication within the CoLab and associated networks. To connect individuals and organizations. To try to create a sense of belonging.
  • To do engagement research into network weaving practices and processes, from the local level to the international level. 
  • Focusing on network weaving, in particular offering cross-network training and knowledge sharing events. 
  • To do outreach work from the CoLab to the wider permaculture audience. This will bring attention to the work we are doing in the CoLab and the resources we offer.
  • To prototype bringing in national and regional networks in order to support the CoLab and the wider permaculture movement. Aiming to bridge projects across bioregions through resources and cross-community engagement.
Funded with 21, 000 GBP through next steps
2025 communications officer role was added to the team, increasing the budget by £3400
STATUS : ongoing

Team

Kate Swatridge – research, outreach
Charlie Wilson – comms, copywriting, reporting officer
Hans Ryding – research, outreach
Aimee Fenech – training & supporting, outreach
Siobhan Vida Ashmole – June 2025 and onward, communication strategist

Area

Network weaving, Diversity, participation and engagement, Next Steps project

objectives 2023

Objective 1: Identify our audiences and prioritize audiences for the first part of the work as a prototype. Until August.

Objective 2: Put together a persona/s for the identified prioritized audiences. Until end of October.

Objective 3: Collate information from around the colab about services, circles and projects in order to update the website – to be used as a basis for the outreach package – ongoing work until end of year.

Objective 4: Collate information about current outreach. Until end of year.

Objective 5: Collate feedback and consent from relevant teams on updates to the website pages, including circle pages, services, resources and onboarding. Until the end of the project.

Objective 6: Writing monthly newsletters. Releasing new and edited webpages (projects, services, resources, etc.), on a half yearly basis.

OUTCOMEs 2023

Objective 1: This was completed. A taxonomy was created.

Objective 2: We identified several personas and which were the most important to target. Persona pages have been created on the website speaking to each persona with a different “voice” and offering them different links. These need to be reviewed and finalised. 

Objective 3: A major overhaul of the website has been completed. This took a major part of our time and budget for the year. It was realized that the website was going to be a major tool for outreach work and that it needed a lot of work done on it. This work will continue in the second year of the project but to a lesser degree. Services pages have been added. A resources page has been added. The circle pages are up to date. The projects pages have all been updated, with new projects added. 

Objective 4: I am not sure that this objective was met. It will be added to Year 2 objectives. 

Objective 5: Consent was obtained and updates were given from teams. This was sometimes a difficult task with a lot of chasing up needed. 

Objective 6: The monthly newsletters were all completed and sent out on time. Many new web pages have been released. Some of them will be added to the resources tab below. 

objectives 2024

Objective 1: Enhance communication within the (CoLab) network and externally to connect individuals and organisations.

1a. Writing monthly newsletters.

1b. Releasing new and edited webpages (projects, services, resources, etc.), on a half yearly basis.

1c. Add adhoc events and job openings as request in #colab-communications-engagement.

1d. Quarterly roundup of NS project updates.

1e. Representation in the General Circle monthly meetings (good for weaving).

1f. Video to introduce CoLab.

Objective 2: Engagement research into network weaving practices and processes across from local to international – focusing on pinpointing needs.

2a. Picture forming – What is the objective of this exercise? – Who is engaging (with CoLab) and how are they engaging (from inside / outside). How and what are we measuring? How do non-engagers (with CoLab) engage with one another and with resources (more generally) (so that we can work out how to help them engage with CoLab resources). What are the needs of different users? Output useful to this team and others.

2b. Plan work according to outcomes of picture forming and needs and according to budget allocation.

Objective 3: Outreach work from CoLab to the wider permaculture audience.

3a. Review persona work from year 1.

3b. Collate information from around the colab about services, circles and projects in order to update the website – to be used as a basis for the outreach package – ongoing work.

3c. Collate information about current outreach.

3d. Collate feedback and consent from relevant teams on updates to the website pages, including circle pages, services, resources and onboarding. 

3e. Finish work on the website started last year (review and implement).

3f. Write outreach pieces to be published in permaculture magazines / social media and network websites & mailing lists. (what’s our aim? Increase membership, join mailing list, or increase engagement with resources).

3g.Mail out to target organisations by persona type. (collate email list, draft copy of email, possibly translate to eg. Spanish).

3h. Publish and curate resources from NS and other working groups artefacts.

3i. Set up Outreach Database (and use for prioritising, categorising, tracking etc).

Objective 4: Prototyping to bring in national and regional/other networks to support the wider permaculture movements & the CoLab

4a. Outreach prototype with Nordic permaculture (capped budget as per slack convo about this at 22 hours).

4b. Outreach meetings with external community network eg. EUPN.

Objective 5: Network weaving and building on the work started with capacity plus in particular cross network training and knowledge sharing events.

5a. Training to CoLab members who wish to represent CoLab / promote services.

5b. Representation in the General Circle monthly meetings (good for weaving).

Outcomes 2024

Objective 1: Enhance communication within the (CoLab) network and externally to connect individuals and organisations.

1a. The monthly newsletters have been published every month, on time. It has new sections promoting diversity, and both an engagement and events section.

1b. There are new “About permaculture pages” that have been added to the website. There are web pages now for Learn services, Funding services, and Digital services. The project pages were updated in September and will be updated again in December. A page of downloadable resources has been added to the website. A CoLab blog page has been added. Other web pages receive reviews and updates when needed.

1c. These are included on the website, and now also on the newsletter.

1d. These have been completed and published in a timely manner. The Q4 roundup will be produced in December.

1e. Charlie attended General Circle meetings each month.

1f. This has been completed. There were contributions from several CoLab members. Charlie did a lot of recording and Hans did the editing.

Objective 2. Research ‘engagement with network weaving practices and processes’ from local to international, focusing on pinpointing needs. –

2a. A quick picture-forming exercise revealed that for this objective, we want to find good ways to reach permaculture people and projects on the ground so that we share the wealth of resources, events and services offered by the International Permaculture CoLab. We designed and published a survey to find out how permaculturists communicate. Analysis of responses is in progress, with a report coming soon.

Objective 3: Outreach work from CoLab to the wider permaculture audience.

3a. This has been completed. The persona pages are active on the CoLab website and will be used for outreach work when sending emails etc.

3b. This work is done on an ongoing basis.

3c. A document reporting the current situation was collated and subsequently a marketing strategy document was produced and published.

3d. This work has been done and is ongoing.

3e. This has been completed.

3f. This has been started. We are in communication with Permaculture magazine and plan to produce articles next year. We are also surveying CoLab members about which platforms they use.

3g. This has been done. We sent an email to permaculture associations in Europe and Australia. So far there was no response.

3h.  This work is being done and is ongoing.

3i.  Initial version has been created, further updates are planned.

Objective 4: Prototyping to bring in national and regional/other networks to support the wider permaculture movements & the CoLab

4a: Contact was made and the results were collected as a case study, however the outreach was not successful in getting any new customers or members. Primarily because we overestimated how developed the organisations were. Outreach with EUPN was very successful and now we have a relationship going between Digital Circle and EUPN.

4b: Participated in skillshare sessions on behalf of Pemaculture CoLab in a session about digital permaculture organised by EUPN – we are getting better at cross collaboration since then.

Objective 5: Network weaving and building on the work started with capacity plus in particular cross network training and knowledge sharing events.

5a: We have been designing training for CoLab members who wish to represent CoLab in their other networks. To be delivered in Year 3 (CoLab Champions).

5b: This has been ongoing with positive feedback from other circles to the work done within this project.

objectives 2025

Objective 1: Communication strategy development and implementation (including recruit a communications strategist)

1a. Recruitment of a communication strategist.

1b. Development of a communication strategy for the CoLab – includes onboarding.

1c. An implementation plan and actions within the strategy.

 

 

Objective 2: Enhance communication within the (CoLab) network and externally to connect individuals and organisations  (including a website review – for maintenance of website content post-2025)

2a. E-mails and slack posts to keep Next Steps members updated – including quarterly updates.

2b. Review of website content for post-2025 by October 2025
Checking in that people have access and are offered training by the Digital Circle to update their own project pages.

2c. Keep the project pages updated – so that they can be used to promote the project to a potential funder in the future.

2d. The events page. We need more events to increase engagement. As a prep work – update the aligned network page. Email out to allied networks to invite / prompt them to submit events.

Write a monthly “submit your public events here” message on Slack (hand over to an active team member when unavailable).

 

 

Objective 3: Bring attention to the work and wealth of resources available for the wider permaculture movement from the CoLab

3a. Focus on promoting the existing assets on the Downloadable Resources page and on getting more people to download them. We need to improve the names & descriptions of the resources and to add a monthly featured resource on the CoLab newsletter and LinkedIn.

3b. Social media campaigns – make them more relevant to CoLab work and permaculture when possible. Currently existing social media campaigns are: promoting the CoLab web pages, a climate action campaign, a diversity campaign, significant dates, and sharing newsletter items.

 

3c. Monthly newsletters. Newsletter archive page updated.

3d. Outreach to external parties. Review our outreach efforts from last year, such as reaching out to Permaculture magazine and decide which to finish and continue.

 

 

Objective 4: Cross network training and knowledge sharing events (CoLab Champions)

4a. Review the design document prepared in 2024 and update and improve it as necessary.

4b. Schedule and do the training for the new CoLab champions.

Outcomes 2025

Objective 1: Communication strategy development and implementation (including recruit a communications strategist)

1a. Finished. The role was advertised on various outreach channels. There were two applicants. One of which was interviewed. After a discussion within the team: Vida Ashmole was hired as the communications strategist. The deciding factor was her extensive previous experience both with marketing strategy and within the CoLab.

1b. Ongoing. A first version of the communication has been published containing: LinkedIn Strategy, YouTube Strategy, Newsletter, Co-Marketing Partnerships, PR Campaign, Microenterprises Services, Membership, AI Strategy, Internal Partnerships, Branding, Best Practices and Maintenance.

1c. Ongoing.

 

Objective 2: Enhance communication within the (CoLab) network and externally to connect individuals and organisations 

2a. Ongoing. All quarterly updates have been sent out in a timely manner.

2b. Ongoing. We have reviewed the funding circle pages, and created new drafts. Further work is pending more information and feedback from the funding circle. All teams have been given access to update their project pages on the perma.earth website.

2c. Ongoing. Project pages are currently being updated.

2d. The Allied Network page has been updated. An email and Slack message has been sent out to Allied Partners to encourage them to post their events. Events from external sources have been added to the Events page to fill it up and make it look more appealing. A monthly message needs to be sent out on Slack to remind people to use the Events page, so far this has not been done.

 

Objective 3: Bring attention to the work and wealth of resources available for the wider permaculture movement from the CoLab

3a. The Downloadable Resources page has been thoroughly updated. A “Resource of the month” has been added to the newsletter and to the LinkedIn.

3b. All of the content for the current social media campaigns has been created. They are being scheduled on LinkedIn. The comms strategist may add some new campaigns.

3c. The monthly CoLab newsletter has been released each month in a timely manner. It includes content from the CoLab and our allied network. It includes a diversity and decolonization piece and a resource of the month. It also includes events and engagement opportunities.

3d. Ongoing. We intend to write an article for the autumn issue of Permaculture Magazine, due on Aug 15th.

Objectve 4: Cross network training and knowledge sharing events (CoLab Champions)

4a. Finished. Document has been reviewed and updated. Possibly will be updated further following the finished training to reflect learnings etc. from there.

4b. Finished. A CoLab Champions training was completed on 6th of May with a number of participants, who are now officially CoLab champions (Yay!)

resources created

Taxonomy of the permaculture movement

Updated history of the CoLab website page

Project pages kept relevant and up-to-date

New – downloadable resources page

New – digital services page

New – learn team services page

Updated funding circle services page

Events page updated

New – onboarding page

Updated home page with links to “persona” pages

Downloadable Resources Management Process 

Permaculture Comms Survey Questions

Yearly Comms Calendar Important Dates

Case Study: Nordic Permaculture Academy

Which Permaculture Communication Platforms do People Use – Survey

Downloadable Resources Impact and Reach – Survey

CoLab Marketing Content Policy

Engagement Tools and Marketing Guidelines

Introduction to the CoLab video

contact links

 

contact@perma.earth

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Impact and Evaluation Support for Community-Based Permaculture Projects

by | May 12, 2023

Impact and Evaluation Support for Community-Based Permaculture Projects

This project is offering support to several grassroots / community permaculture projects that want to improve how they evaluate their work and assess its impact.

We work with participating projects to identify areas that they want to work on, agree a pathway to do that work which will be supported by online materials and courses, 1-1 coaching, small group workshops and peer to peer learning through a community forum.
Understanding and assessing impact can help projects to improve their work, access more and better funding, and contribute to a collective evidence base of the impact of permaculture projects.

Previous work has shown that many community permaculture projects are aware that they should be measuring their impact and doing monitoring and evaluation but need help to get started. This project will help up to ten projects directly, and will use learnings to develop wider support in this area.

Funded with 9, 900 GBP through next steps
STATUS : ongoing

Team

Kate Swatridge, Aimee Fenech

Reporting Officer: Kate Swatridge

Area

Network Weaving, Prototyping, Next Steps Project

objectives 2023

1. Design the client support package (‘the offer’).

2. Define eligibility criteria for client projects and selection process.

3. Create application form.

4. Draft Terms of Reference / Commitment for client projects to sign up to.

5. Communicate (advertise) the  offer and invite applications.

6. Select first three client projects.

7. initial meeting with each project, identify their needs. Seek commitment from their leadership team.

8. Research, plan and co-design a pathway for them, ready to start early 2024.

9. Identify stacking opportunities between the three projects and their needs.

10. Integrate individual pathways into a single workplan for Group 8 project team.

11. Design & setup micro-grant system. Criteria & what can be claimed for, how to apply, consent process, funds disbursement (10 payments over 3 years).

12. Project management, admin and reporting.

OUTCOMEs 2023

This project has not started yet, beyond some initial project planning. This was planned and is due to capacity constraints of the team. Work will commence in earnest in September.

This project will offer bespoke support to several permaculture projects that are wanting to start or improve their evaluation and impact assessment. This could include 1-1 support, access to online courses, and group workshops. More details to follow. If you are working with a project that would be interested in this service, please contact us. There will be an application / selection process depending on level of interest. The service will be free to projects but will require a time and enthusiasm commitment!

objectives 2024

1. Communicate (advertise) the offer and invite applications.

2. Start working with four to six new client projects by Sept 2024.

3. Continue working with existing clients throughout this year or until they feel ready to stop if sooner.

4. Document learning from engagements, and identify opportunities (for within CoLab and outside CoLab), in a project Learning Log, by Dec 2024 (To be continued in 2025).

5. Actively seek to integrate, learn from and cross-pollinate with other related initiatives, eg Permaculture Impact, Next Step MEL Research work etc. Ongoing.

6. Invite clients to apply for micro-grants, as and when needed.

7. Write up completed client engagements as case studies for perma.earth and Permaculture Impact websites.

Outcomes 2024

We are currently working with two client projects, one in Democratic Republic of Congo and one in Malawi, with others in the pipeline. Each of these projects is taking their own path to evaluating their work, and discovering and communicating their impact. With one client, we meet weekly online with ‘homework’ each week, with the other we work more organically via WhatsApp and a shared digital folder. We are using some existing evaluation and impact tools and resources, and creating new approaches as needed.

This project team is actively learning throughout the engagements and is documenting learning, innovation and challenges. We are working closely with the Permaculture Impact project.

December update:

We have continued to work with Nutritious Trees project in DRC and Malawi Schools Permaculture Clubs to design their evaluation plans. We have been integrating with the Permaculture Impact project to develop data collection tools for these projects, which will be made available for other projects to use via PI. Examples are a simple food diary and food availability chart, both of which are suitable for people with low education levels and easily translatable to local languages by local project teams. We’ve also been working with MSPC to test a free digital data collection tool (Kobotoolbox) which can be used to collect data in the field via mobile phone or tablet (even offline and uploaded later).

We are pleased to have also started working with Anasi project in Uganda and ZimConserve in Zimbabwe, and also welcome Shegenerators in Kenya who we are in the processing of on-boarding. Following their application form and initial consultation, Anasi and ZimConserve have both been working on Change Pathways Maps for their projects.

objectives 2025

1. Be supporting or have supported seven to ten client projects by April 2025.

2. Setting up and managing micro-grants, as and when needed -for out of pocket expenses eg data / travelling costs

3. Write up completed client engagements as case studies for perma.earth and Permaculture Impact websites.

Outcomes 2025

September Update

We are still supporting several community-based permaculture projects to develop their evaluation and data collection plans. We are running Action Learning Groups and providing 1-1 help as needed.

resources created

contact links

contact@perma.earth

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Global Permaculture Movement Map

by | May 12, 2023

Global Permaculture Movement Map

What is this project doing?

The aim of this project is to create an online map of strategic permaculture associations and networks worldwide.

We want the map to be accessible, and able to be updated and maintained by the community.  In future phases of work, we hope to include local groups and projects on the map.

Who are the beneficiaries of this project?

  • People in the network globally
  • New entrants (individuals new to permaculture) that want to connect to projects, groups and organisations near them
  • Permaculture organisations, networks and groups that want to connect and collaborate, and attract new entrants.

How will it make an impact?

This project will allow greater self-organisation across the network and better ’self-knowledge’, leading to improved funding proposals, events and effective organising. It will also facilitate growth of the movement by enabling interested individuals to connect with their local networks, groups and projects.

How will this map be different to other permaculture maps currently out there?

Strategic and scalable.  Initially our map will mainly be a strategic network building tool. We have put considerable effort into to understanding current permaculture organisations/networks worldwide. Thinking from patterns to details, we will map strategic organisations first, and intend to add local groups (and eventually projects) as the map evolves and people (users) respond and share feedback on it. 

 Up-to-date information.  Our data will be checked and confirmed annually, so will always be up-to-date.  Good processes for who/when/how the map will be updated are essential for providing a positive experience for diverse users at any time. This is one of our key design aims.

  ‘Ownership’ of the map database will be federated – meaning regional datasets can be stewarded by regional representatives.  This could be at continental level but potentially national too.  A distributed network is more resilient than a centralised one.  In the meantime, the International CoLab will steward on behalf of regions until they are ready.   

 Datasets will be available to, and usable by, strategic permaculture organisations.  We will also be exploring with the team at Murmurations the possibility to integrate with organisations’ CRM / contact databases.  

Accessibility – we aim to make our map visible and accessible on any device and any browser, and usable even with limited internet bandwidth.

 Data will be open source and distributed – meaning the data will be available to other mappers. This means mapped entities could be featured on other relevant 3rd party  maps in future, without needing to collect data again. This will be via the pioneering Murmurations protocol.  Murmurations is a protocol designed for data interoperability, meaning data can be easily mixed and matched for use cases beyond simple mapping. 

Functionality. The map design is considering a comprehensive list of actors and potential users. Their main needs have been identified, and while the initial version might not include an extensive range of functions, there is a commitment to continue developing the map and add more functions over time. We’re hoping the map will help users to identify and contact potential partners to develop future projects.  Our data profiles will be ‘rich’ both in terms of searchability, and also potentially integrate with other rich content elsewhere in e.g.  stories, impact, funding collaborations.

Funded with 9, 000 GBP through next steps
STATUS : ongoing

Team

Kate Swatridge, Andy Goldring, Maria Paez

Reporting Officer: Kate Swatridge

Area

Network Weaving, Next Steps Project

objectives 2023

1. Review existing permaculture maps (and databases and surveys) (e.g. Permaculture Association Britain (PAB) database, Permaculture Global (Geoff Lawton), P. Convergence aggregator website database, The Next Big Step organisational survey, EUPN Europe map, etc). 

2. Publish list of current maps, with notes on their uses and limitations, on an initial project webpage on perma.earth.

3. Identify expected map users and their needs.

4. Define who to be included on the map (in this phase of funding and in future phases).  As part of this, collaborate with Outreach & Engagement project team to develop a taxonomy of permaculture movement for the purposes of CoLab.

5. Draft a high level specification for the map (to include purpose, audience, accessibility requirements, data fields, desired features and functionality). 

6. On-board the new International Coordinator from PAB to this project.

7. Find and recruit mapping tech person to help deliver map as per specification (which can evolve as we learn).

8. Review initial mapping software review work done by Luis Tiago. Do further research of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) mapping platforms as required and select one. (https://ripess.eu/en/digital-solidarity-economy-an-ecosystem-of-free-software-platforms/ )

9. Identify data fields to be included on the map. Draft questions for the data collection form. Set up form.

10. Administer a pilot survey (using data collection form) to a mix of at least 20 regional and national networks or associations.  Test questions and use data to create a very simple Pilot Map v1. To enable data testing as minimum, could also seek feedback from potential users and mapees, and may also test platform. This may or may not be on the desired mapping platform.

11. Complete a phase 1 retrospective and design phase 2 and phase 3 of the project.

OUTCOMEs 2023

So far, we have:

  • Researched existing permaculture maps, some other online maps and current mapping technology.
  • Developed a simple taxonomy of the permaculture movement.
  • Been defining who we expect to include on the map in phase 1.
  • Started a high level specification and design exploration giving consideration to overall structure, and where and how the underlying database will be updated and stewarded.
  • Welcomed and onboarded to the team the International Coordinator from Permaculture Association Britain.

objectives 2024

1. Develop and launch a pilot map prototype.

2. Design feedback approaches and implement updates and suggested improvements based on the feedback received.

3. Establish a clear database and data input strategy.

4. Define, test and implement a system/process to work with map stewards.

5. Create and implement a strategy to increase map visibility and visitor engagement.

6. Scope future requirements and secure funding for continued map development and maintenance.

7. Create and implement strategy to acquire more organisations listed on the map.

september 2024 update

The map is published on map.perma.earth along with supporting pages, a directory and an individual profile page for each entry. We are still refining all of these. Currently there is only a small dataset published to enable testing and development. We have not launched it publicly yet. We have established a data collection, validation and upload process, which utilises the Murmurations protocol, meaning our permaculture data is interoperable and open source.

We have been planning how we will get more entries on the map, designing feedback processes and exploring future funding possibilities for this project.

resources created

contact links

contact@perma.earth

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