URBAN PERMACULTURE WEEKEND SERIES June 28 & 29 and July 26 & 27 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day Sliding Scale $75 - $200 per weekend (includes dinner Saturday, overnight, and breakfast Sunday) Scholarships available; please contact us for information or to help with a donation
*THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THIS WEEK's ISSUE OF TOMPKINS WEEKLY* City as Ecosystem By Steve Gabriel Cities are rich centers of culture, diversity and exchange. Unfortunately, they also produce pollution and drain resources from rural areas. Since the majority of the human population now lives in cities, we have a design challenge; how do we create systems that support the needs of people while not creating the negative environmental and social consequences which have been characteristic for so long? Permaculture is a design system for sustainable living. It gathers knowledge from indigenous cultures and modern science, merging the two to create systems that mimic the fertility and diversity of natural ecosystems. If we begin to view cities as ecosystems, we can attempt to classify and assess how we might utilize strengths and design to overcome What type of ecosystem is the city? An ecosystem is basically a collection of living and non living elements that are continually engaged in a set of relationships. These parts are focused on growth and reproduction and it is their interactions which make up the whole. In a city we can easily see relationships and interactions as either in harmony with one another or completely dysfunctional. These types of relationships tend to degrade the ecosystem and drains resources of time, money, and labor in the process. An example of a beneficial relationship can be seen on many of the streets in Ithaca, where trees have been left to grow and mature into old age. These organisms are not only beautiful to admire, but offer ecosystem benefits of purifying the air and water and keeping ambient temperatures cool and moist. Downtown would feel much hotter than the surrounding hillsides if we had less large trees to shade the hot summer sun. There are plenty of examples of dysfunctional relationships in the urban environment. Stormwater runoff is a huge problem in any urban area, costing millions to municipalities in infrastructure, maintenance, and treatment costs. City systems attempt to direct, contain, and store massive amounts of water, mixing relatively clean rain water with human waste, heavy metals, and other chemicals. The installation and maintenance of sewer systems which collect and send water far from where it falls are one of the largest costs cities face today, a price which is passed onto the taxpayer. If we contrast the urban ecosystem with that in nature, we quickly see a stark difference. In nature, the ecosystem floor is design to allow water to permeate, or drain through, its soils. This allows for nutrient deposition, an increase in water table depth, and the availability of water to feed plant roots. The water is used where it falls, with almost no runoff. A mature forest is said to edge near 0% runoff. A typical city has between 80% and 100% runoff. Nature seems to have found a way to view stormwater as a asset and not a liability. Permaculture is said to be a solution orientated solution, with the idea that we can often find innovative solutions if we examine the system enough. In the case of stormwater, many cities have already began to follow natures example and develop permeable pavement which allows water to run through and still provides a stable surface for driving and parking. These systems are already being installed in many cities including Chicago and New York. People are finding that they increase ecosystem health while decreasing costs, a sign that the solution is a success. The Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute invites community members to a weekend where we will explore to notion of the city as a ecosystem, offering several ideas and hands-on demonstrations of techniques that can be applied to any urban site. The class runs July 28 and 27th, and will explore many topics including urban gardening, water management, composting, and tree pruning. Visit www.FingerLakesPermaculture.org for more information. Steve Gabriel has served as land use manager at Cayuga Nature Center since 2006 and is Program Coordinator for the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute. His experience draws from a diverse educational and organizational involvement, including studies all over the United States and abroad. His main interest is in forestry. URBAN PERMACULTURE WEEKEND SERIES June 28 & 29 and July 26 & 27 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day Sliding Scale $75 - $200 per weekend (includes dinner Saturday, overnight, and breakfast Sunday) Scholarships available; please contact us for information or to help with a donation _______________________________________________ [email protected] listserv RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information: http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/fingerlakespermaculture Support the list host by donating to: http://www.mutualaid.org
