Our work to inspire greater human potential is guided by connecting methodologies that support a holistic approach to designing and building sustainable communities, in southern Africa and globally. There are two key philosophies that we apply in our sustainability thinking and practice:
Permaculture – developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s, was where we started and which has informed much of what we do.
Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs; it’s a system of design where each element supports and feeds other elements, ultimately aiming at systems that are virtually self-sustaining and into which humans fit as an integral part.
Integral Theory steps in where permaculture is short on the dimensions of development relating to people, with Integral providing a more comprehensive methodology to integrated development.
Integral Theory refers to a whole-system or integrated approach to addressing a challenge and has existed in one form or another since ancient times. Integral Theory attempts to form a comprehensive map that uses all the known systems and forms of human development – from the ancient shamans and sages to today’s advancements in cognitive science – and refines their major components into five simple factors (AQAL framework) that are keys to unlocking and aiding human evolution (Wilber, 2005).