ABSTRACT
Bill Mollison, an Australian jack-of-all-trades, together with his compatriot and ecologist, David Holmgren, after extensive research into the Tasmanian aborigines, evolved and first publicized in the 1970s what they termed permaculture: permanent agriculture. The agricultural system that they developed incorporated a comprehensive paradigm shift that involved the development of an ethical, moral and developmental approach to the natural world. For centuries, the basic component of European agriculture had been the family farm. In Philippine Agenda 21 (PA21) the Philippines articulated an image of society that is threefold, that is culture, polity and economy, altogether engaged with nature and community. For Marcia Nozick, a Canadian community activist, the most critical issue people face, together with environmental destruction, is the disappearance of community, both on a physical and a spiritual level. As a result, communities are breaking apart under the strain of outward-pulling forces of global economic development.
