The problems with planners??

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Greendale is a Great Concept but maybe it needs a bit more work. I wonder if there is a google sketchup version we could walk through. I have been working on some new units of greendale civilisation that I reckon could turn some heads. I have a video and an article for this site in production.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Ludi and LT

Thanks for your continued input.

In terms of 'planning': Our discussion is now moving away from the 'hard', prescriptive practice of the statutory planner to that of the 'soft', proactive practice of the strategic planner (two very different arms of 'planning').

'Visioning' (aka scenario planning) i.e. the Greendale example, is something that Holmgren has put a lot of work into:

http://www.futurescenarios.org/

For a very long-term 'vision', check out the Tandanya Shadowplans:

http://www.urbanecology.org.au/shadowplans/

'Planning', as previously discussed, is a very broad school. Ultimately, planning is the responsibility of the individual members of any one community/settlement. If people have an interest in the way their (human and non-human) habitats are planned and subsequently developed (and why wouldn't they?), then it is up to these very same people to band together and implement change from the bottom up.

Obviously, the above is never an easy process to embark upon. However there are many examples, from many corners of the globe, where an integral and grassroots approach to the planning of our collective future are occurring. Permaculture is but merely one of these.

Of course, we cannot rest on our 'plans' alone; we must work towards securing our collective visions by implementing our plans through practical application. Currently, I spend about 1/3 of my waking hours consolidating theory (usually, a solitary practice), another 1/3 putting these theories into practice (during consultancy, and often in the company of many others), and the final 1/3 reviewing the practice and reformulating new theory (mostly through academic - teaching and research - pursuits).

'Planning' is, and should always remain, a dynamic process. There is no end to planning. There is no such thing as the 'grand plan'; an answer to all the world's woes. We have to keep working at developing our plans, we have to keep refining them. Utopia, as attractive as it might be imagined, is but a place I visit during my sleeping hours.

Keep up the great work, Markos.

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Interesting comments and links as always :-) Much appreciated.