Posted: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 8:51 am |
Updated: 6:53 pm, Wed Jan 18, 2017.
College students are often at a tipping point in life. Many are not yet productive, self-sustaining members of society, but are poised at the threshold, foot raised to take the first step. Though job security is often considered the epitome of future success, there are other facets of adulthood that are often overlooked—home, land, and resource management.
The relationship people sustain with their resources will color the environment for years to come, that’s why Field Station Manager at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Matt Dykstra helped organize a course on permaculture.
Permaculture is a way of thinking about and strategizing resources such as land, shelter and food that stresses productivity and permanence.
“Permaculture is about facilitating permanence and sustainability. It’s about developing a relationship with the land or a relationship with a place,” Dykstra said. “It’s looking at landscapes differently and managing land and resources while thinking about what it means to be productive, like is this land producing something that is valuable to other people and animals.”
The course on permaculture, being taught byGibbs House Permaculture Program Coordinator Josh Shultz, is just one of many educational endeavors hosted by the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. Office for Sustainability Project Manager Derek Kanwischer believes that people of all ages can benefit from taking this course or a similar one and learning this perception of the world.
“Permaculture is attractive to many because it offers an intuitive process to understand how the parts of a garden, landscape or a community are interconnected. From a sustainability perspective, we need people of all ages who have the tools and understanding to see how our behaviors can have a positive effect rather than a “less bad” or degenerative effect on each other and the environment,” Kanwischer said.
Though college students may not yet have the resources to effectively apply permaculture concepts to their lives, exposure to this ecological perspective can still widen minds and promote environmental awareness.
“As more of us become exposed to or grow up with permaculture, a new culture of ‘us’ may be able to put our society back in balance with our natural environment,” Kanwischer said. “This means moving away from our over-reliance on fossil fuels and seeking creative solutions that can help us reimagine our relationship with nature and each other.”
Students interested in permaculture education are encouraged to visit Cedar Creek Pine Institute, a nature center located in Hastings, Mich. In light of the current political climate, knowledge and awareness of this and other environmentally friendly initiatives are perhaps more critical than ever.
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Posted in News, Campus, Community
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Wednesday, January 18, 2017 8:51 am.
Updated: 6:53 pm.
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Permaculture,
Sustainability
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