Proceedings of the Sixth International Permaculture Conference

These Proceedings are a collation of submitted papers, presentation transcriptions and presentation reports that cover most of the sessions presented at the Sixth International Permaculture Conference, held in Perth, Western Australia, from September 24 to October 4, 1996.

A very small number of sessions are not included here because neither papers, recordings nor reports were available. I apologize for these omissions.

The structure of the Proceedings is as follows:

• Conference keynote presentations, arranged in order of delivery.
• Conference subject streams presented in alphabetical order of stream name. Within each stream, presentations are arranged in alphabetical order of the lead author’s name.
• Field trip reports, arranged in alphabetical order of title.

Whilst participating in IPC6 and, later, collating the material for the Proceedings, it became evident that permaculture has come a long way since IPC5. The depth and quality of projects and research, as represented by the various papers, transcriptions and reports, demonstrates that permaculture has matured. As you read and digest the following chapters, I am sure that you will agree.

I am also sure that you will be inspired to continue with whatever permaculture activities you are currently undertaking or planning. Please remember to document your efforts and share them with the global permaculture community; the need for practical, experiential information is urgent. Time is running out and, by the time IPC7 is held, permaculture will need to be demonstrably main-stream!

Enjoy!
Peter Austin, Editor