Permaculture

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a holistic approach to land management that works to mirror natural ecosystems, integrating land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies or relationships. It's a way of tending to the land with a focus on minimizing waste and holistic solutions. By working with nature rather than against it, permaculture practitioners can develop closed loop, self-sufficient systems; like those in natural ecosystems. By using these principles to design your use of land, you can increase diversity, stability and resilience of your ecosystem. Permaculture is applicable in urban and rural contexts and can be done at any scale.

Biomimicry

Observing nature and then designing a system in a way that allows nature to do much of the work for you.

Biomimicry mimics strategies found in nature to solve human problems. It is the design and production of materials, structures and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes.

Resources

Benefits of Permaculture

The benefits of permaculture affect not just humans but the environment and wildlife as well. A main goal of permaculture is to leave the Earth in better condition than it was found; in contrast to conventional farming, which is focused on maximum production at high costs to biodiversity. Permaculture works to maintain and even improve scarce and often non-renewable resources by replenishing soil nutrients, slowing water and soil run-off, supporting diversity of animal and plant species, and creating an overall resiliency in the system.

Permaculture on Campus?

DMACC's Food Forest is a place where students, instructors and the public can slow down, take a stroll and immerse themselves in revitalizing time in nature. Studies show that time in natural environments can reduce stress and increase one's sense of wellbeing.

Additionally, college campuses, including DMACC campuses are places of food insecurity. DMACC's Food Forest not only produces highly nutritious food available for all to enjoy, but also helps educate students about ways they can produce their own food in a localized system, free from centralized production. And, this can be done, even in small urban spaces like patios, rooftops and apartment balconies.

DMACC's Urban campus is the most diverse campus in the state of Iowa, with students from over 60 nations. The average age of students is 29 years old, many have families, and many are economically disadvantaged. Through this project, we can help all of our students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors learn more about our natural heritage and ways to feed our families and our Earth.

DMACC is proud to employ the principles of permaculture to help create vibrant, healthy, and productive communities through reconnecting humans to nature in regenerative ways.