UMass Permaculture is a group of students and staff who convert underused grass lawns on (and off!) the UMass campus into edible, low-maintenance, and easily replicable permaculture-designed gardens. This program was created by students in 2010 and has helped spark a global campus permaculture movement. Because of your continued student enthusiasm and demand for permaculture at UMass, numerous departments have all chipped in funds for new classes, projects, events, and much more.
What is Permaculture?
Permaculture is a grassroots community movement and ecological design science based on principles and patterns found in nature. It provides a “how to” along with a set of ethics and principles that help us transition our communities, campuses, and our culture to become truly sustainable.
Watch this 5-min video with David Holmgren, explaining how permaculture follows both ethics and principles in design.
UMass students, faculty and permaculture staff (all who were former UMass Permaculture students!) work together to demonstrate what permanent agriculture + permanent culture actually look like, through various on-campus gardens and other educational offerings. We have developed and used the campus permaculture toolset to help us with all of our projects. Together, we are creating a more sustainable campus and local community and try to model what a socially just, environmentally regenerative and economically stable future can look like. Get involved with us today!
