International Project: Children in Permaculture

What is permaculture and what is its role in children's education?

Permaculture is a design system that creates sustainable relationships between people
and the natural environment. More precisely, it uses three ethics: care for the earth, care for people and fair sharing of the surplus.

Care for the earth – this ethic refers to working in harmony with nature in order to reduce negative impact and to amplify positive impact on the environment. To be able to protect the earth it is necessary to understand the natural laws and the needs of all living beings.

Examples of questions for children: how can we take care of living beings, how can we help
the trees, the garden? Have we left behind something that does not belong in nature?
Care for people – means concern for others and for oneself, taking into account the needs of children, parents, educators, the community. Thus empathy, clear communication, and positive and creative thinking are encouraged.

Reflection questions: how can we keep everyone safe? How can we take care of ourselves? How can we take care of others?

Fair sharing of the surplus – the third ethic of permaculture refers to striving for equality among people, regardless of skin color, sex, ethnicity, and seeking fairness between people and other species.

Questions for children: how can we share something fairly between us and other species? What can we give back to nature?

The practical side of permaculture in Neohumanist education

Permaculture intertwines extraordinarily well with Neohumanist education and everything it
involves, and in the activities the educators carry out with the children they keep in mind:

• developing respect and empathy for nature and its diversity
• sensory exploration and development through direct contact
• becoming aware of the rights and needs of the natural world
• awakening feelings of love and care for nature and living creatures
• putting the attitudes and behaviors acquired into practical life

The children are directly involved actors in the permaculture process, paying special attention to the soil, the plants, everything existing in the kindergarten yard and its immediate vicinity, through specific actions. Each season has its charm, and the children become friends of nature through the protective activities they carry out: in spring – they prepare the soil, rake it, plant seeds, flowers and vegetables; in summer they take care of these and tend them; in autumn they gather the dry leaves and branches and look after the aromatic plants; in winter they look after the creatures that visit the kindergarten yard, preparing food for them.

Encouraging and supporting children from early childhood to develop a relationship of
emotional receptiveness, compassion and collaboration among themselves and with the natural world is a primary step in generating a new consciousness. Doing permaculture with children helps them become aware, learn to value resources and discover creative ways of living in peace with the world around them.

An article by Virginia Nistor