HRT221 Ecological Agriculture Design Systems (8)
CSU Discipline Area: Agricultural and Horticultural Studies (AGHOR)
Duration: One session
Abstract:
Living sustainably requires an ethic of care and responsibility that enables us to maintain ourselves, our communities, and our environments, in ways that sustain and enhance life and wellbeing. To do this successfully requires the intentional design and management of human systems in ways that are compatible with , and supportive of, all other natural systems. Permaculture, as a design system and philosophy of living, is used to explore processes for living sustainably and demonstrates principles of engagement with the natural world which bear relevance to holdings both large and small. Other design systems are also studied including Natural Sequence Farming and Yeoman’s Keyline. A key concept underpinning the study is the praxis of engagement between theory and practice. Besides covering the theory of design the subject will demonstrate how concepts work in practice.
+ Subject Availability Modes and Locations
| Session 2 | |
|---|---|
| Distance * | Orange |
*This subject offering contains a residential school. Please view following information for further details.
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: HRT221
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
- be able to accurately demonstrate the ecological foundations of Permaculture, Keyline Farming, and Natural Sequence Farming
- be able to demonstrate how to evaluate, for a particular context (eg farm, catchment, community, etc), its ecological and functional effectiveness and efficiency using permacultural concepts and landscape reading tools
- be able to demonstrate how to design the development and management strategies and techniques compatible with Permaculture's goals for ecological sustainability.
- be able to develop an approach to design in an ecological context
Syllabus:
The subject will cover the following topics:
- Permaculture: history and philosophy - Permaculture: ecological foundations - Ecosystem functions - Energy accounting and resource utilization - Reading the landscape: ecosystem description and evaluation - Ecological thinking principles as applicable to farming in varying contexts - Planning and design principles and practices - Keyline farming: its principles & applications to ecological farming practices - Natural Sequence Farming: its principles and limitations.
Residential School
This subject contains a optional 3 day residential school.
The Residential School is a three-day tour to study on-farm agricultural design systems and permaculture practices.
The information contained in the 2013 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 24 April 2013. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.