Project: The Old Boot factory

Posted by Matt Morton 1 day ago

Through this unique course participants will embark on a study of urban Permaculture design based on Matt Morton’s concept of ‘farming the city block’. The idea of city block design is to look not only at our own private gardens but also the combined central space created by the blocks on which we live. This will give us increased access to potential resources, from the land and from the people living there. This will involve creating methods by which willing residents can share and trade the produce of their gardens within the block, and potentially to the wider community; share their personal knowledge of the land; come together to create more energy efficient homes with methods such as collective rainwater harvesting; and much more, resulting in an overall increase in community cohesion; giving individuals, of all generations, a greater sense of place and belonging. With this method we intend for people to find more sustainable solutions within the urban environments in which they already live rather than feeling the need to pack up and ‘run to the hills’ in order to find a deeper connection to nature! 

The course begins with an Introduction to Permaculture. If you have already completed this elsewhere this initial weekend is optional. 

The Introduction will cover the ethics and principles of Permaculture and introduce the general design elements. 

Over the following 3 weekends we will look specifically at creating an Urban Permaculture design for the block on which the course is to be held, in the centre of East Oxford. We are hoping to involve residents of the block as much as possible and will be ending the course with an exhibition evening. This will be an opportunity to introduce them to the designs we have created together in the hope that they may take them forward to become a reality!