- Hi, Geoff here and this is our second Q&A for the
2021 online PDC.
And our first question comes from Robert.
And Robert says, Geoff often talks
about an adaptive nature of permaculture design
and it can take several iterations, cycles,
i.e years, to massage the design
into its ultimate productive space.
I don't know about ultimate cause it never really get there.
You can always get more. But a pretty good state
I presume you mean.
So how is a typical permaculture contract
relationship structured?
Probably no such thing as typical.
They're all a little bit varied
but most of them only go so far.
Do we factor in a several year long relationship?
Starting with an intentional design,
with some frequency of site visits thereafter
when someone is paying us as the expert,
how do we manage expectations to
let the client know that this is an ongoing process
and not a definitive solution?
I'm looking beyond every design.
Every designer needs to figure out what works for them.
I'm curious how other people have made things work
or how you made these things work.
Look, Robert, there's no set system, really.
You can do it in all different ways
and you can always offer options.
Now, that's a big word options in design
always offer options. There are all sorts of options.
What I do at the moment and I've done many different things.
I initially give an assessment call
and say, look this is the assessment.
What I think is possible for you, does it fit what you want?
Do I fit with what you need? If so we can go on.
So I give people an assessment first, often on the phone
or on, on, on a,
a Skype call or a, or a video call.
And then from the assessment, we go, okay
you want to get a design done?
So then we did the design.
So after the design, their next stage is implementation.
They might be okay to go.
That might be all they need, but I do offer an option.
If you want me to guide you through implementation.
I'm giving you a basic approach that will cover all climates
and all species, generally just a general approach
to implementation and the way you approach it.
But if you want me to direct implementation
I can do that as well.
That depends how much time and how much money you've got
how long that takes and how many sequences of iterations
I may have to give you to get an implementation finished.
But you should get it done in a certain amount of time.
So once you've got your implementation done
the next stage I see is establishment.
Now that may take two or three, three or four
four or five years maybe
depends again how quickly you want to direct it.
It then evolves as well. Every system should be allowed
to demonstrate its evolutions So you can dynamically adjust.
That's you and the client. You as the designer and
the client is the one that's living through the experience.
So you've got this much longer process
and it's much more evolving, which is establishment.
And there's only one thing to do after that.
And that's design the ongoing long-term maintenance
and that gradually fades a bit over time
and it gets a little bit more refined
and never stopped refining and never stops
actually gaining a little bit of productivity
as long as you keep observing those evolutions
of the site demonstrating its evolutions.
So, but you can go about it many ways.
The typical thing is people just want you to
give them a design and they go and get educated
after that. They say, oh, I like this,
This system sounds really common sense.
I could do with a little bit of general guidance
to then how I then implement.
Maybe they want direction of earth works
because that's often first when you implement it
it's usually earthworks, irrigation,
structural structural positions, and then live in systems
structural positions and living systems go together.
You've got to fence it, maybe you don't,
maybe you got a fence animals,
Maybe you got to put an animal housing, et cetera.
Before you put the animals in.
You've got irrigation always has to come, right?
So there's usually irrigation comes after earthworks.
Then some structures, maybe not all of them
But a lot of them. And then it goes to live in systems
and then we go, that's a good sequence.
So you can advise that
but people might say, oh, I like this,
I'm going to go and get better education,
I'm going to go and get better experience,
I'll come in and out, maybe I'll get other people
to help me, but you've got me. You've got me started.
So there's never the same. It's always slightly different.
If you're doing a big professional contract,
laying out a massive system like this huge permaculture park
we do it in Qatar, in the capital city we're employed
as the consultants to the landscape, architects
and willing to go right the way through.
But that's a huge professional contract.
If you're talking general consultancy, it's definitely
a nice communication should be nice communication
between you and the client, what they need
what you can offer and how long you can keep it
going. If they want you to