Logo primary
Logo secondary
Earth Passengers
Earth Passengers
Details
Commenced:
01/04/2000
Submitted:
17/02/2011
Last updated:
07/10/2015
Location:
TW
Website:
http://earthpassengers.org
Climate zone:
Sub-tropical





Followers
Alexandre Albert Bron(wyn) Elliott Craig Arnett Dada Yogananda Darren Roberts Marine Piana Marty Miller-Crispe Robyn Francis Señor Pavitra Tamás Turcsán Thomas Sommer Vanessa Monge Augusto Fernandes Vic Gaffney
View Updates

Earth Passengers

Project Type

Urban, Commercial, Demonstration, Educational

Project Summary

Earth Passengers was founded to promote and implement environmental education in Taiwan in 2000. Since 2002, 3 years after one of the co-founders, Peter Morehead completed his PDC with Geoff Lawton, we started working on promoting Permaculture education in Taiwan. Earth Passengers held Taiwan's first PDC in 2008 with Robyn Francis. In 2009 we held our 2nd PDC with Robyn Francis and in 2011 our 3rd PDC with Darren Doherty and Peter Morehead. We are now establishing a small but intensive system on beautiful east coast in Taiwan. Interns and wwoofers are welcomed.

Project Description

Earth passengers means that…

  • we are guests on this planet
  • we admit to not being in control of the Earth's systems
  • we accept a humble position along with a rich diversity of other “passenger” species that are no less or more important than ourselves.

The name also implies that the Earth is like a vehicle, and true enough, the Earth is the only vehicle that will take us for the ride of our lives from birth to death. There's no getting off and there's no switching to another vehicle – therefore we must learn to take care of this one and ensure that it is in working order for future generations. Most importantly, we believe this vehicle is not just some dead machine: taken as a whole, the biosphere is akin to a living creature and human life is just one part of this creature – therefore we need to foster an attitude of respect and stewardship for all life, and balance the human factor in the entire Earth equation.

So where is this Earthship taking us? Around and around the Sun, our source of energy – the fuel that powers the Earth and all its passengers. Conservative and wise utilization of the Sun's energy is a key principle to our sustained survival. The Earth has provided everything we need to take us and all other passenger species from point A in time to point B in time. What are we doing to make sure that we make it to point B without overworking or destroying the vehicle?

Our motivating forces (assumptions):

  • It is impossible to gauge the long-term effects of current human activities on the Earth. Human-induced climate change and mass extinction show the fragility of the Earth's systems. We need to minimize our impact, both as individuals and as a society.
  • The development of humanity is not based on material wealth. We need to focus on harmonization between all peoples and species and with our environment, now more than ever.
  • Modern society is dangerously dependent on unsustainably high amounts of energy. Fossil fuel energy sources will vanish within the century and we have to prepare our grandchildren for low-energy lifestyles.
  • The Earth's stores of fresh water and soil are nearly depleted. We need to learn how to store these two vital resources in living systems on land in order to spread this wealth equally among all humans and other creatures.
  • Cities will soon undergo major transformations in response to disappearing energy sources. We need to make cities more self-reliant and more responsible for their resources.

Our corresponding goals and actions

  • Permaculture education (introductory, PDCs, urban permaculture), design and consultancy
  • Environmental education in general
  • Buy Nothing Day
  • Voluntary simplicity everyday
  • Service learning projects
  • World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)
  • Low technology that is accessible to all
  • Non-violent solutions to conflicts
  • Renewable energy education
  • Solar cooker education
  • Passive solar design
  • Earth-friendly products and materials (low embodied energy*)
  • Appropriate Technology
  • Rainwater catchment and usage
  • Encourage young people to return to the land and learn soil-building gardening techniques
  • Reforestation projects
  • Rooftop gardening and utilization
  • Encourage establishment of community gardens in parks and on rooftops
  • Design and retrofit energy-efficient buildings

Updates

Courses Taught Here!
Project Badges
Urban Commercial Demonstration Educational
Administrators
Hui-i Chiang - Admin
Team Members

Report Earth Passengers

Reason:

or cancel

Hide Earth Passengers

Reason:

or cancel

Legend of Badges

Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.

Member

Member

A member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation.

Male memberFemale member

Permaculture Matchmaker

One of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile.

unverified

PDC

People who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world.

verified

PDC Verified

People who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation.

pri_verified

PRI PDC

People who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world.

pdc_teacher

PDC Teacher

People who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world.

pri_teacher

PRI Teacher

With the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable.

PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows.

pri_teacher

Aid Worker

The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.

pri_teacher

Consultant

The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.

community

Community Project

Community projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency.