What is permaculture? “Permaculture is a design system based on ethics and principles which can be used to establish, design, manage and improve all efforts made by individuals, households and communities towards a sustainable future.” - David Holmgren, co-creator of permaculture. The goal of permaculture is to care for the earth and each other by creating harmonious and mutually beneficial relationships through observation of and working with the existing patterns of nature. It can be applied in gardens, technology, businesses, homes, communities, groups, or any other designable system. The Washtenaw Permaculture Meetup is one such group that is applying permaculture design to its own development. We see this group as an evolving resource to help facilitate the application of permaculture, it’s principles, and connection with others who wish to be involved with permaculture in Washtenaw County and the greater Southeast Michigan Area. Our first focus is regular, casual get togethers to give us a real world physical and social context, allowing the group to plan further activities that specifically reflect the needs and desires of the group. Some examples might be site visits, study groups, field trips, forage walks, workshops, or whatever else you can dream up. Check out our calendar for upcoming and past events. We invite you to join us at any of our upcoming events, where you can meet other permaculturists, get a bite to eat, and share in the learning. In the end we feel that simply learning about permaculture increases awareness of our world’s connectedness and is a step towards sustainability.