Why Dana Meadows as the mother of Integral Permaculture? Dana Meadows was a pioneering environmental scientist, a great system thinker & educator, a leading voice in the environmental movement. She is best known for being the lead author of Limits to Growth, a milestone which alerted the world to the unsustainable course the western model of development was taking, back in 1972. The book, which reported on a study of long-term global trends in population, economics, and the environment, sold millions of copies and was translated into 28 languages & inspired the birth of permaculture, amongst its many of other important influences. A long-time organic farmer, professor & journalist, Meadows had a unique insight, passion & ability for translating the complexities of systems dynamics into practical action-points, some of this we will explore during this class.

1. + PDC
Module 4 of the PDC+++
+ +
Energy & EcoTechnology
Class We dedicate this Module to the Mother &
Father of Integral Permaculture: Dana
M4.5 Meadows & Howard Odum, two original
pioneers who helped humanity make
Dana Meadows great strides in understanding systemic
thinking, in all four quadrants.
Why Dana Meadows as the mother of Integral Permaculture?
*
Dana Meadows was a pioneering environmental scientist, a great system thinker &
educator, a leading voice in the environmental movement.
*
She is best known for being the lead author of Limits to Growth, a milestone which alerted
the world to the unsustainable course the western model of development was taking, back
in 1972. The book, which reported on a study of long-term global trends in
population, economics, and the environment, sold millions of copies and was translated into
28 languages & inspired the birth of permaculture, amongst its many of other important
influences.
*
A long-time organic farmer, professor & journalist, Meadows had a unique insight, passion
& ability for translating the complexities of systems dynamics into practical action-
points, some of this we will explore during this class.

2. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

3. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

4. A very touching & unique video in YouTube
Dr. Dana Meadows
"Down To Earth"
October 1994
Recorded
Articles to listen to
> gift for mind-map of
VisionsLecture :)
Changed her
technical talk ... not
taking for granted the
vision.
In something she has
been systematically
un-trained ...
visioning.

5. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

6. Donella Meadows
1941 -
2001 USA
Founder of The
Sustainability
System Analyst Centre, 1996, now
The Donella
Meadows Institute
Journalist
to apply systems
Writer thinking &
organizational
Teacher learning to
bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn economic, environ
mental & social
Farmer challenges

7. Dennis Meadows
born 1942
USA husband & co-author
of Limits to Growth
Scientist
Emeritus
Professor of
Systems Some great
lectures of his on
Management Dana's
bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
page, about the
30yr update to
Limits to Growth

8. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

9. Towards the beginning of our adventure together we said ...
Don't worry if some parts of the course
still don't make sense, or you don't know where
to fit them ... if it's all a bit like this ...
We can't learn
systems in a ... it's normal :)
linear way
Relax &
TRUST in
your mind -
which IS a
hopefully by now some bits are starting to re-connect in
system! a new way, ... & Meadow's work is very helpful for this

10. Systems Design - a Review
Dana Meadows 1) they have these components
from class 2.1
Elements
InterConnexions
Purpose
heart
2) & complex systems in turn veins
are made up of sub-systems
arteries
Systems &
capillaries
SubSystems your circulatory
system
etc.

11. Systems Design - a Review
Hierarchy ecosystem
Holarchy
2) complex Holons
systems in turn
are made up of
sub-systems organism
3) & sub-systems organize
themselves into nested
hierarchies (holarchies)
organ

12. Systems Design - a Review
1) have these components
2) complex systems
Elements made up of sub-systems
interConnections
Purpose 3) sub-systems
organized in nested
hierarchies
(holarchies)
4) & we have a
great symbols
language to make
maps (models) of
complex life
systems

13. A System in Harmony
Elements &
Eg. a healthy body: the InterConnexions Work
whole self-regulates to
keep you alive Toward a Common Purpose
heart
veins
your
digestive
system
arteries
capillaries
your respiratory your circulatory etc.
system system

14. A System in Dis-Harmony
Purpose
Eg. a university: as intended & discover knowledge & pass it to
how can mis-align (bad design) future generations
Professors
ignore students in
order to write
their papers
to get tenure
balance the sack
budget profesors
to get good
grades
Students
cheat in exams
Sub-systems can
enter into conflict
with the intended Administrators
purpose

15. A System in Dis-Harmony
a Rational System Vision (for our Purpose
'system') > a sustainable one > a For all creatures to thrive
PermaCulture
thriving
Energy creativity &
use the least commerce to
amount possible & supply all
slowly (REDUCE healthy human
CONSUMPTION) needs
(PEOPLE
CARE)
toward maximum
fertility & diversity
(EARTH CARE)
Environment
Economy

16. A System in Dis-Harmony
The current 'system' & how it Purpose
might be currently mis-aligned or For all creatures to thrive or for
'off purpose' (discuss in wiki!) humans to dominate all species?
make it as cheap,
thriving
abundant & Energy creativity &
universally use the least commerce to
available as amount possible & supply all
possible, with fast slowly (REDUCE maximum healthy human
turn-over CONSUMPTION) consumption needs
at highest (PEOPLE
possible profit CARE)
toward maximum
fertility & diversity
(EARTH CARE)
Environment
try to adjust &
survive under Sub-systems in
brutal attack serious conflict
with Permaculture Economy
Ethics

17. Can we Re-design a Whole Society?
= a system where it is very difficult to eradicate drug addiction & crime
people who want
dealers who are quick relief from
less limited by psychological
the law than the pain
police that
oppose them
governments that
make harmful
substances illegal
& use police power
to control
it is only by returning responsibility
& self-regulating functions that a
stable life-system can evolve
rich people who
live in the vicinity
of por people non-addicts that are
more interested in
farmers, drugdeal protecting themselves
ers & bankers than in encouraging
who want to recovery of the addicts
make money
self-regulates?

18. is this art or science?
Systems are complex, & lots of creativity
is also needed to understand them

19. Look anything like the whole
or some other part
A Text
Book
but there are rules
Remember... each part might not

20. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

21. Winter 1997 Recorded
Articles to listen to
Jay Forrester (MIT, Dana's mentor) > gift for mind-map of
> Complex Systems are Counter-Intuitive VisionsLecture :)
"People know intuitively where leverage points are.
Time after time I've done an analysis of a company, and I've figured out a
leverage point.
Then I've gone to the company and discovered
that everyone is pushing it in the wrong direction!"
Article the result of an "intuition jump" when listening to the new
global trade regime, NAFTA & GATT.
"What bubbled up in me that day was distilled from decades of
rigorous analysis of many different kinds of systems done by
many smart people.
But complex systems are, well, complex.
Places It's dangerous to generalize about them.
.. this .. is not a recipe for finding leverage points. Rather it's
to an invitation to think more broadly about system change.
"
Intervene
in a System bit.ly/PlacesToIntervene

22. "12 Leverage
9) Numbers. Points"
8) Material stocks and flows (11.size of buffers, 10.
structure of material stocks & flows, 9. length of delays)
7) Regulating negative feedback loops.
PermaCulture we're building
6) Driving positive feedback loops.
5) Information flows.
4) The rules of the system
(incentives, punishments, constraints).
What we've got / already built
3) The power of self-organization
Places 2)The goals of the system
to 1) The mindset or paradigm out of which the system
Intervene arises
in a System 0) The power to transcend paradigms (1.)

23. The role of a successful
design is to create a self-
regulating system
it is only by returning responsibility & self-regulating
functions that a stable life-system can evolve
3) The power of self-organization
2)The goals of the system self-regulates?
1) The mindset or paradigm out of which the system arises

24. We need to create a new myth ... a modern myth
see class 5.10
designing with Myth
“In times of extinction of
extraordinary biodiversity
&
change, the gray wave
the problem isn't
not to realize all
that we can PETROL PEAK
2000 CLIMATE
dream, 2020 CHANGE
but in not
dreaming all we monetary
could realize” instability
&
(Dee Hock) the information
revolution

25.  The Founding Mother of Permaculture?
 “Limits to Growth” (in the 60s)
 Club of Roma (in the 70s) > inspired Mollison
 The Brudtland Comission (in the 70s-80s)
 Local Agenda 21 (in the 80s)
2)The goals of the system
1) The mindset or paradigm out of which the system arises

26. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Life & Works
Thinking in Systems
Leverage Points in a System
Dancing with Systems

27. Winter 2001
“People who are raised in the industrial world and who get enthused about
systems thinking are likely to make a terrible mistake.
They are likely to assume that here, in systems analysis, in interconnection
and complication, in the power of the computer, here at last, is the key to
prediction and control.
This mistake is likely because the mindset of the industrial world assumes
that there is a key to prediction and control.
But self-organizing, nonlinear, feedback systems are inherently unpredictable.
They are not controllable.
They are understandable only in the most general way.
We can't control systems
or figure them out.
Dancing
But we can dance with
With them!
Systems

28. 1) Get the beat.
2) Listen to the wisdom of the
system.
3) Expose your mental
models to the open air.
4) Stay humble. Stay a
learner.
5) Honor and protect
information.
6) Locate responsibility in
Dancing the system.
With 7) Make feedback policies for
feedback systems.
Systems

29. 8) Pay attention to what is
important, not just what is
quantifiable.
9) Go for the good of the
whole.
12) Expand the boundary of 10) Expand time horizons.
caring.
11) Expand thought horizons.
13) Celebrate complexity.
14) Hold fast to the goal of
goodness.
Dancing
With
Systems

30. M4.5 * Why Dana Meadows as Mother of
Integral Permaculture?
Direct Link to her page in the e-book: http://bit.ly/DanaMeadowsEn
Visioning
Recorded
Articles to listen to
Life & Works
> gift for mind-map of
VisionsLecture :)
Thinking in Systems
AND
** Permis for articles
Leverage Points in a System presentations **
Dancing with Systems