Talk: 14th October > “Children in Permaculture”
Biography
Lusi Alderslowe is a sole-trader social enterprise. The social enterprise is designed based upon the permaculture ethics of Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share. The heavily discounted places available on our permaculture courses enables people on a very low income to learn about permaculture for the benefit of the people and the planet.
Our vision is that humans are living in harmony with each other and nature, and all children can access an education based upon the ethics of earth care, people care and fair share.
You might notice that this is the same as the Children in Permaculture vision, which was co-created with Lusi and the rest of the Children in Permaculture team.
Our mission is creating and giving the tools to empower people to integrate permaculture into their education, work and whole lives through:
- Organising, providing and facilitating permaculture-related training and courses including workshops, Introductory courses, Permaculture Design Courses, Children in Permaculture Courses, and bespoke courses.
- Tutoring for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture design
- Coordinating, attending and facilitating meetings, events and projects which promote permaculture with adults and children.
- Compiling, creating and disseminating resources for sharing permaculture, particularly with children.
- Engaging children in opportunities to learn from nature including through Forest Schools.
As an international permaculture practitioner, teacher and diploma tutor, Lusi has students and apprentices around Europe.
A bit of background – having travelled widely and completed an MSc in Human Ecology, she lived in Glasgow from 2004 to 2012. There she studied her first PDC (Permaculture Design Course), Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and Training of Permaculture Teachers, as well as home educating her two children, and working for Bodhi Eco-Project and Urban Roots. In 2006 she co-founded an outdoor children and parents’ play-group called ‘Nurture in Nature’, for her wee eco bairns Robin and Luis which became one of her Permaculture Diploma designs. The other 9 diploma designs included one of a Housing Association Children’s Garden in an area of multiple deprivation where she worked for 2 years, and teaching permaculture which she has been doing since 2009.
In 2012, Lusi and her family moved to Gatehouse-of-Fleet in Galloway, SW Scotland, where she continues to engage both children and adults in permaculture. Lusi completed the Forest School Leader/ Level 3 training with Lily Horseman in 2013, and co-founded an after school group called Forest Fun, through which she has played with children in the forest every week for 5.5 years, and led a ‘summer camp’ for a week for 6 years. Lusi was also involved with the Family Fun Permaculture Adventure at the beautiful Anam Cara which was 4 days of action-packed learning and playing!
In the local school, Gatehouse Primary, Lusi has worked on numerous projects to improve the school grounds including creating a biodiverse, sensory Peace Garden, building an outdoor classroom, polytunnel, den-building area, planting a food forest, signage and more. The children are enthusiastic, learning lots and getting a beautiful space made (more information on the school website).
Since 2014, Lusi has been coordinating the international ‘Children in Permaculture’ project for the Permaculture Association (Britain) which is an Erasmus+ funded, sociocratically organised European project. In the process, Lusi was a key team member who wrote case studies, curriculum, session plans, hundreds of activities and a book about engaging children in permaculture.
Lusi is involved in various organisations locally and nationally, including being a member of the Permaculture Scotland Working Group of the Permaculture Association, and the Gatehouse Development Initiative.
Lusi cooks, forages, gardens, plays with her kids, surveys badgers, cycles a lot, walks more, organises numerous events, travels by train and bus, and loves our abundant and beautiful Earth. She has a fun, informative, participatory teaching style with lots of diversity.
Publications
Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share in Education – The Children in Permaculture Manual,
You can read it for free online, or purchase a book here.