Dear IPC Support Group -

We will soon be gathering in Jordan for IPC10.

We have reserved a meeting time for the IPC Support Group on the first day of the Convergence, September 19th, 4-5pm, with additional follow-up meetings.  We now have 80 members on the IPC Support Group listserve, from 26 countries.  The meetings are open, all are welcome to attend and observe.

Background Info

The history of the International Permaculture Convergence (IPC) Support Group:

The Support Group was formed at the end of IPC7 in Croatia in 2005 with ten founding members, that included three past IPC conveners.  The intention was to help future IPC conveners (after being selected), with the very large task of hosting an IPC.  It had been observed that prior IPC's had exhausted their organizers and support organizations, financially and otherwise.  The hope was to design and implement a few simple structures that would ensure continuity of the IPC's into the future.  Below is a list of some implemented and some in process.

• registered domain names in trust into the future (IPC11, 12, 13, etc) for the IPC's
• developed a website that was easily transferable from one IPC convener to the next
• develop archives of past and future IPC's (available on the website)
• work on scholarship strategies
• encourage members to serve as a collective memory of IPC's
• media and outreach to PC world community
• livestream broadcasting proposed & researched (attempted for IPC9 Africa, happening at IPC10 in Jordan)
• blog for reporting during Conference and Convergence (first time IPC9)
• Protocols developed for Support Group listserve so we can all stay friendly! many viewpoints, many opinions (Initiated after IPC10)
• Members brought books and laptops to share with delegates

In Brazil at IPC8, in 2007, the IPC Support Group was officially recognized by the IPC General Assembly (those present at the IPC).  At the end of IPC8 it was given the responsibility for interviewing and recommending a choice for the next IPC, which would then be voted on by the General Assembly.

From IPC7 Newsletter (Croatia, 2005), by Max Lindegger

I was invited by Bill Mollison in 1979 to participate at the first Permaculture course which was held at Bill's home in Tasmania. Australia. The course was an obvious success, and a second course was offered to a larger group in Buchan (Victoria. Australia). I decided to participate again, and joined that second course. If memory serves me correctly, Bill suggested that this would be it - all done and over. None of us could have predicted at the time that Permaculture would take off worldwide.

Lea Harrison, Tony Gilfedder, the late Rill Peak and myself organised the 3rd ever Permaculture course.

This was held in Nambour in Queensland Australia in 1981. At this time I decided to resign from my civil engineering design work and concentrate on Permaculture design and implementation work - and later on ecovillage design.

Over the last 22 years since then, the work has taken me from Argentina to Portuguese Macau, and from Slovenia to Alabama USA - and many cultures in between. 1 have attended all the International Permaculture Conferences, I have seen Permaculture magazines come and go, and I have experienced the highs and lows of Permaculture.

The 1st Permaculture Conference/Convergence was held in the early 1980's, at Rowlands, in New South Wales Australia. It was held during a growth period of Permaculture, and when we till all pretty well knew each other. Like all the Conferences which followed, the Rowlands Conference/Covergence was organized by dedicated volunteers. I can remember travelling down to NSW (I was then living at Nambour, north of Brisbane) with Lea Harrison for a pre-planning meeting.

Photos and text by Brad Lancaster

In northern Jordan during the summer of 2009, I was on a mission to document a modern-day Roman-era cistern resurgence. I met with Engineer and Permaculture Project Manager Sameeh Al-Nuimat at the Care International office outside Amman. He was great. He has rural hardworking roots, loves native plants and traditional ways, is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about whole-system design, and decided we’d begin the day by having an Arabic breakfast with everyone in the office. We all grouped around a very small, low table piled high with hummus, pita, olives, falafel etc, and ate with our hands. What a wonderful way to bring everyone together as the day begins!

The Tamera water landscape is a model and an educational project for natural water management and the renaturation of damaged landscapes all over the world and a basis for forestation, horticulture and agriculture in regions threatened by desertification. It is a globally adaptable model which can be applied in all regions in various appropriate forms.

Southern Portugal is threatened by rapid desertification. Forest fires, summer droughts and the loss of biodiversity are symptoms of a widespread loss of valuable land. The vegetation is threatened. Cork oaks and pine trees die in large numbers because the soil, leeched by excessive grazing and poor agricultural practices has lost its capacity to retain water. Erosion washes away fertile soil and what’s left dries up. Simultaneously there is flooding and water damage due to strong winter rainfalls every spring. Desertification and flooding are symptoms of one problem: incorrect water management caused by industrial agriculture, over-grazing, monoculture forestry and deforestation. Portugal´s average rainfall is similar to that of central Europe — yet the desert seems to grow right before our eyes.

Since 2007 Tamera has been building a model for natural water management with the help of the Austrian Permaculture specialist Sepp Holzer. The core of the project is a water landscape with a system of interconnected rain water retention spaces that are built into the landscape in a harmonious way. The water is stored behind a dam of natural material (clay).

by Lester R. Brown, Earth Policy Institute

Saudi Centre Pivot Irrigation is rapidly failing
Photo: Craig Mackintosh

Long after the political uprisings in the Middle East have subsided, many underlying challenges that are not now in the news will remain. Prominent among these are rapid population growth, spreading water shortages, and ever growing food insecurity.

In some countries, grain production is now falling as aquifers are depleted. After the Arab oil-export embargo of the 1970s, the Saudis realized that since they were heavily dependent on imported grain, they were vulnerable to a grain counter-embargo. Using oil-drilling technology, they tapped into an aquifer far below the desert to produce irrigated wheat. In a matter of years, Saudi Arabia was self-sufficient in wheat, its principal food staple.

But after more than 20 years of wheat self-sufficiency, the Saudis announced in January 2008 that this aquifer was largely depleted and they would be phasing out wheat production. Between 2007 and 2010, the wheat harvest of nearly 3 million tons dropped by more than two thirds. At this rate the Saudis likely will harvest their last wheat crop in 2012 and then be totally dependent on imported grain to feed their Canada-sized population of nearly 30 million people.