Permaculture Principle #12: 'Creatively Use and Respond to Change'
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." – Albert Einstein
Adapting for Long-Term Resilience
See, in nature, nothing ever stays the same. Ecosystems are constantly shifting and evolving over time. Plants grow, die back, get replaced by new species - it's this ongoing cycle of change.
And the same applies to human societies and cultures too - they're always transforming, whether we like it or not.
Change is inevitable and even necessary for long-term resilience. Instead of trying to freeze everything in place or just reacting chaotically to changes, permaculture aims to cooperate with change proactively.
On one hand, it's about designing stable, enduring systems that can last over many generations. But it balances that with an openness to adaptation and evolution when needed.
It's like building a sturdy house but also planning for how you might renovate or expand it as your family needs change over decades.
The principle gives two main focuses when it comes to change. First, deliberately introducing beneficial changes in a controlled way to guide the system's development over time.
Like planting fast-growing trees to prepare the soil for a future orchard of longer-lived fruit trees.
And second, developing flexibility and resilience so your system can adapt gracefully to big, unpredictable shifts that are beyond your control.
Stuff like natural disasters, climate changes, economic disruptions - things we can't stop but can plan to absorb and adjust to.
Ecological Models of Succession
The classic model views it as this stepwise succession, where you start with pioneer species being the first to colonize a disturbed area. Things like weeds, grasses, and fast-growing shrubs.
Then over time, these get replaced by longer-lived trees and plants, until finally you reach this "climax" stable state of a mature forest or whatever the climax ecosystem is for that region. Nice and orderly progression.
But then other ecologists looked closer and said "Hey, not so fast!" In a lot of ecosystems, like many found in Australia, after a disturbance like fire, you actually get ALL the species regenerating together - the short-lived annuals AND the big long-lived trees.
It's this riot of diversity initially, which then gets whittled down over decades as the ephemeral species die out.
And yet another model says ecosystems actually NEED these periodic shake-ups and disturbances. It's almost like they're adapted to it.
You'll get long stretches of energy accumulating as biomass, then BAM - a wildfire, insect attack, something that causes this rapid pulse of consumption and recycling. But rather than being a catastrophe, it's just part of a natural cycle of renewal for the whole system.
Top-down Change Management
One of the key things is that it treats the design process itself as a form of managed change from the top-down.
So instead of just throwing out your old life and trying to shift everything at once, permaculture says to start small with tangible steps.
For example, lots of people begin by transforming their backyard into an edible paradise - putting in veggies, fruit trees, maybe keeping chickens.
It's a contained space to practice techniques and get comfortable implementing permaculture principles on a small scale first.
The idea is that making these manageable changes in your immediate environment builds skills, confidence and momentum to then tackle bigger changes over time.
Like after you've greened your own patch, you could move on to installing greywater systems or solar power for your home.
But crucially, before rolling out any interventions, permaculture emphasizes really observing and understanding the dynamics of the specific system you're working with first.
Whether that's studying how water moves through your landscape, analyzing your energy needs, or seeing how plant communities evolve in your local environment.
Resilience and Flexibility
The basic idea is that instead of making everything rigid and brittle, you build in flexibility from the start.
That way, when storms or droughts or recessions or whatever come along, your system can bend rather than break.
A big part of this flexibility comes from avoiding excessive specialization and centralization.
Like, instead of staking everything on one high-input commercial crop, you spread it out with diversified plantings and income streams.
Or living in a home designed to accommodate stuff like passive heating and cooling instead of total dependence on utility power.
Permaculture is also really big on taking an opportunistic approach and using renewable, temporary solutions for variable or occasional needs.
So instead of investing heavily in something permanent, you get creative and improvise with what you have on hand.
The Built Environment and Organic Change
One of the key ideas is finding that balance between durability and renewability when it comes to our homes, buildings, and infrastructure.
We tend to build things to absolutely last forever these days, using materials and techniques that seem "permanent."
But in nature, nothing is truly permanent - everything is cyclical and evolving.
Permaculture suggests it can be better to embrace that organic cycle of renewal and change, even for the built environment.
Maybe some parts get built for longevity, like the core structures. But other layers are designed to be periodically broken down and renewed as needs change over decades.
It's kind of like seeing our buildings as living, evolving organisms rather than static, lifeless sculptures meant to stay frozen in time.
They can metabolize and transform incrementally to remain vibrant and suited to their inhabitants' changing needs.
That way, instead of fighting the unstoppable tide of change and ending up with crumbling ruins, our built environments can keep reinventing themselves - almost like they're breathing and staying alive.
Applying Succession in Permaculture Design
The idea is to mimic how pioneer plants help condition the soil and prepare the way for longer-lived, more valuable plantings to eventually take over.
It's like starting with fast-growing nitrogen fixers, hardy weeds, and simple groundcovers. These tough cookies can thrive in poor conditions and start breaking down and enriching the soil.
Then once they've done their thing, you can bring in your fruit trees, nut trees, and other permanent edible woody species to flourish in that improved ecosystem.
The really cool part is learning to read the signs and evidence in the landscape to understand what stage it's at and where it could be headed.
You start picking up on clues about past disturbances, wildlife patterns, microclimates and more.
Then based on reading those landscape "messages," you can decide if you want to gently steer or accelerate the succession in a desired direction.
Or maybe you reinforce and sustain it at a particular stage if that's the goal.
Conclusion
It is all about being open to the natural shifts in life and the environment.
Instead of resisting change, this principle encourages us to embrace it, finding creative ways to adapt.
It’s about starting small, observing carefully, and understanding that even disruptions can be opportunities for growth.
By using models of ecological succession and maintaining flexibility, we can design resilient systems that are ready to evolve over time.
References
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"Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability" by David Holmgren
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"Permaculture: A Designers' Manual" by Bill Mollison
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Certain images in this article were created using AI.