Principles of Natural Systems and Design
Guiding principles of permaculture design:
• Everything is connected to everything else
• Every function is supported by many elements
• Every element should serve many functions
What is design? It is composed of two elements: aesthetics and function. Permaculture design concentrates on function.
Functional design is:
1. Sustainable ― it provides for its own needs
2. Provides good product yield, or even surplus yield. This happens when elements have no product
Un-used by other elements, and they have their own needs supplied by other elements in
the system.
If these criteria are not met, then pollution and work result. Pollution is a product not used by something else; it is an over-abundance of a resource. Work results when there is a deficiency of resources and when an element in the system does not aid another element. Any system will become chaotic if it receives more resources then it can productively use (e.g. too much fertilizer can result in pollution).
A resource is any energy storage which assists yield. The work of the permaculture designer is to maximize useful energy storages in any system on which they are working, be it house, urban property, rural lands, or gardens. A successful design contains enough useful storages to serve the needs of people.
Diversity is related to stability. It is not, however, the number of diverse elements you can pack into a
system, but rather the useful connections you can make between these elements.
From source to sink:
• Diversity increases
• Energy stores increase
• Organizational complexity increases
Chaos or Disorder Principle: If resources are added beyond the capacity of the system to productively
utilize them, then that system becomes disordered (goes into chaos). Chaos or disorder is the opposite of harmony, as competition is the opposite of cooperation. In disorder much useful energy is canceled out by the use of opposing energy, thus creating entropy or bound energy. Society, gardens, whole systems and human lives are wasted in disorder and opposition. The aim of the designer is therefore two-fold:
• To use only that amount of energy that can be productively absorbed by the system.
• To build harmony