Dispatches
UMASS Amherst embraces Permaculture and Eco-design
November 20, 2011
The Green Living Project mobile tour was excited to visit Umass Amerherst during their recent sustainability fair. Umass Amherst is a very large progressive university in the quaint little city of Amherst, MA, which is incidentally overwhelmingly populated by young college students. The youthful energy of the area and the fact that Umass Amherst is a nationwide leader in sustainability education has lead to some new transformations on the campus especially in regards to permaculture education. Permaculture is a ecological design system based on natural principals used to build sustainable human habitats. It has applications that range from agriculture, to building integrated systems in cities, to community organization, and it’s been catching on accross the country like wildfire. Umass had previously been blessed with an organic student run farm but thanks to the efforts of students and the facilitation by permaculture designer and sustainbility coordinator Ryan Harb they now have this amazing permaculture garden for the entire Amherst community to enjoy. The Franklin DC Permaculture Garden is located right next to the university dining commons and new efforts have been made to include a larger share of local and student farmed produce in meals served at the hall. The model that Umass has helped promote is now being replicated in other campuses. You can watch the video of their garden transformation below.
If your looking for a place to learn more about permaculture, natural building, and ecological design we recommend checking out the Lost Valley Education Center outside Eugene, OR
