Permaculture
By Calin Radulescu
The purpose of this platform is to offer Permaculture Design – related services for those who need help in setting up a project, or want the advice of a dynamic and mindful designer.
Sharing knowledge is an integral part of my skills, as well as educating those who are interested in learning more about the topic. I also bring together practical examples with theoretical knowledge through posts on my blog, articles, interviews, book recommendations and vlog entries.
About Calin
Permaculture Swiss knife
Permaculture Designer from the OPDC 2019 taught by Geoff Lawton, Calin lives in Lyon, France and specializes in Urban and peri-Urban settings.
He focuses on the use of all types of energies and resources, in small but intricate situations ranging from homesteads to shared gardens, all while optimizing work-flow and systemic connections.
Permaculture Designer Certificate available here
What is Permaculture?
Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies – imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems.
Permaculture uses holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.
Sitting at our back doorsteps, all we need to live a good life lies about us. Sun, wind, people, buildings, stones, sea, birds and plants surround us. Cooperation with all these things brings harmony, opposition to them brings disaster and chaos.
-Bill Mollison
How Permaculture Design can be used?
Permaculture Design can be applied to all fields of Human Activity, although people associate it mostly with food production because that is where you see the most palpable results. The main matrix we work with is the Energy Audit, which is about how much energy (like solar, water, wind, geothermal and especially human energy) can be used on site, or can be stored in living or non-living elements.
The Energy Audit matrix is used to identify best uses in each case. It can concern using fossil energy, electric energy, wind power, gravity flow of water, using more resistant materials for objects and so forth.
The directives remain the same, but every project is different – depending on available resources, potential development and desired outcomes.
Permaculture Main Frame design
Permaculture takes a scientific approach to designing an entire property to fill the needs of the users, in terms of uses of energy, production of food, and dealing with whatever is on site, in order to put it to best use. We look at the three aspects, in this particular case, which we refer to as Main Frame design.
Water
It is the flow of water on and in the ground, which we aim to pacify and infiltrate into the ground, in the most efficient way. We’re building towards passive irrigation, stopping erosion, preventing flooding or infiltration of water into the foundation of buildings, drought-proofing and fire-proofing the property.
Access
Usually aligns with Water, so it comes in next in terms of planning. We look at access: roads, alleys, footpaths, and they align with the flow of the water on the property, to avoid flooding and erosion, but also to direct human activity flow as required by the way the Clients interact with the different elements on site.
Structures
Once everything is strategically arranged, we identify ideal placement and size for dwellings and other structures, in relation to Water, Access and uses of Property. We follow the rules of Functional Design, while providing as many of the basic needs of the household as possible.
What Permaculture can do for Me
Permaculture is an Integrated Design System that takes a scientific approach to creating Sustainable Systems that support Human Existence.
In terms of application, when designing an entire property or project, a Permaculture Designer aims at filling the requests and the needs of the users, in terms of uses of energy, production of food, obtaining surplus, all while integrating living and non-living elements that could already be present on site.
It is a marriage of what already exists, the natural potential of the project and your own goal.
The project is based on Functional Design. In practical terms, we aim at creating as many mutually beneficial functions as possible, between all the elements. One way of assessing a good Design is not by counting the number of elements and their individual (market) values, but by understanding how they interact. In time, Knowledge becomes a valuable asset. It allows for the development of what you’ve learned within the Main Frame into a cohesive and productive project.
That is accomplished through Evolutive Implementation. We aim to accomplish what the client has set out as a Goal, but this requires going through different stages of evolution.
One key phrase you might hear often is “Letting the System demonstrate its Evolution”.
Working with Natural Processes, first we design the Main Frame of the System we aim to establish. This will vary from project to project, depending on climate, altitude, geology, precipitation, skills, available resources and so on.
Ready To Get Started?
Or interested in learning more about the wide range of services I offer?
Click the button below to discover the type of service that can work for you and start the application process.
Contact Me
If you have any questions about permaculture in general or need some assistance in booking a call with me, use this form to get in touch.
Please be aware that sensible advice cannot be provided without an understanding of the whole project.