iLAND Criteria and Overview Document: this document provides a detailed overview of the purpose and principles of iLAND including the Essential and Desirable Criteria for iLAND Centres –iland_proposal_sept2018.pdf
Examples of Mature Learning and Demonstration Centres (including a number of PDF Case Studies):
These are case studies of projects which are all mature learning, networking and demonstration centres. Over time we will add more case studies, including urban centres and smaller scale projects, and will work steadily to produce an iLAND Good Practice Guide for learning and demonstration centres.
Amrita Bhoomi (Karnataka, SW India) – 66 acre agroecology training centre and demonstration farms, pioneering Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) methods with an estimated 100,000 peasant farmers now practising ZBNF methods in Karnataka state
Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania – large-scale farmer-led training with an 80Ha Farmer Training Centre linked to 52 Farmer Field Schools, that have brought over 3000 small-scale farmers into the agroecological farming movement
Soils, Food & Healthy Communities (Malawi) – large-scale farmer-led training and research network covering over 80 villages, with a Training Centre under construction
Timbaktu Collective (South Central India) – a cooperative of cooperatives and action-oriented education and demonstration projects, creating numerous cooperatives as effective systems of organisation for the development of rural enterprise, employment and skills development
La Bolina (Spain) – permaculture learning and demonstration linked with creation of eco-enterprises, employment, community and regenerative solutions to the refugee crisis.
Himalayan Permaculture Centre (HPC) alongside its demonstration and work across numerous villages in remote areas of Nepal, HPC has developed an excellent ‘barefoot consultant’ farmer-to-farmer training system to spread permaculture education and practice to villages across a wider area
Three excellent and pioneering examples of European small farm scale permaculture learning and demonstration centres are:
Two excellent examples of urban LAND Centres in Britain are:
- Organic Lea on the edge of London
- Hulme Community Garden Centre close to central Manchester.
Case studies of some European permaculture demonstration projects collected by the European permaculture Teachers partnership project.
National LAND Centre Systems:
UK LAND project – pioneered the LAND Centre initiative and shows how well a network can develop with good support, helping the development of many very active learning and demonstration centres, that are actively networking in the local community and regions.
Danish LAND Centre initiative – was the fist to take up the UK LAND model and adapt it to its own needs, integrating this with the development of Denmark’s permaculture education and teacher training system – and going on to advise other European countries in these areas.
Visegrad LAND Centre Network – is linked to a wider permaculture education development project in eastern Europe covering Poland, the Czeck Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine.
Other Tools For Effective iLAND Project Development:
Full Circle Leadership (FCL) Model – a very useful model for planning and managing the development of your project, with an excellent video overview of the FCL model and download of a FCL resource document – also a Blog article explaining the FCL model and how it grew from experience of what works and what doesn’t in projects.
More iLAND Information: