Permaculture News

Aussie St at Rainbow

How come permaculture co-originator (an old codger) David Holmgren is using a surfing metaphor to talk about suburbia at the Rainbow Serpent festival, in the dry inland, to mostly young people who don’t own a house and have most likely recently escaped suburbia to find their way in the world?

David traces the history of suburbia from the 1950’s through to the present and on into a challenging future that is already unfolding using an entertaining and edgy story about his imaginary but amazingly true-to-life Aussie Street.
While many young people are now questioning the idea of debt to become home owners, few can see a pathway forward that will give them some capacity to create the world they do want.

David shows how getting out of debt, downsizing and rebooting our dormant household and community non-monetary economies are the best hedges that ordinary citizens can make.

The idea that these household and community economies could achieve unprecedented growth rates if the monetary economy takes a serious dive, is a good news story you won’t hear from mainstream media. The metaphor of surfing suggests a stronger role for positive risk taking behaviour change without the need for expensive changes to the built environment that few will be able to afford. The permaculture makeover and behaviour change in a retrofitted Aussie St allows the residents to not only survive but thrive through the “dumpers” of the property bubble collapse, climate chaos and geopolitical energy shocks that hit the lucky country in the Second Great Depression of the 2020’s.

An endearing, amusing and gutsy story of hope for in-situ adaptation by the majority of Australians living in our towns and suburbs.

And if you think it is just a dream, check out some of the examples of Aussie Street style retrofitting of the suburb.

Hulbert Street in Fremantle, WA is a great example. Here, a driving force behind neighbourhood remaking, Shani Graham, talks about her experience in a Tedx talkfest in Perth. A permaculture activist in the Blue Mountains in NSW, Paula Ajuria informed us late last year that a neighbourhood retrofit is underway. We are sure there are many other Aussie Streets out there, and hopefully after Rainbow, there will be many more.

Come and see how the real Aussie dreams are made at Rainbow.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Other News

Do With Su

I am very excited about the launch of Do with Su on the Holmgren Hub. It is a culmination of a long process for my partner in love and livelihood to share her skills, passion and wisdom with a wider audience.

Read More »
Scroll to Top
Give the gift of Su!
Sign up to our newsletter for a regular sprouting of all things permaculture. We love filling baskets, not inboxes!

Household abundance & resilience, in all four seasons. A hands-on, mentored course covering all the skills you need to go from beginner to thriving veggie patch,