Social Permaculture: Raising Up Resilience with Martin Ping
In this episode co-host David Bilbrey sits down again with Martin Ping. Martin is the executive director of Hawthorne Valley Association, a non-profit whose mission is social and cultural renewal through the integration of education, agriculture, and the arts.
Today’s discussion is one of social permaculture: how to engage hearts, minds, and consciousness during this time of climate chaos. Martin uses his time at Hawthorne Valley and his thoughts as an educator and elder within the region to look at how we can build community, cultural, and personal resiliency.
Find Martin and Hawthorne Valley Association at HawthorneValley.org. You can also listen to David's earlier interview with Martin.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hawthorne Valley Association they recently released a new podcast, Roots to Renewal, which began with an interview with Francis Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet, and followed by an episode with Bill McKibben, and more on the way.
Though I’d like to hear more about Martin’s ideas of Freedom, that is a discussion for another day, as what stands out for me as we draw this to a close is the idea of engaging with listening more than we speak, and finding shared connections.
Over the many years of hosting The Permaculture Podcast, I’ve encountered practitioners from all walks of life, with a range of personal and political perspectives that vary widely and are often in opposition to my own background and worldview. What I’ve found time and time again, is that what separates us from one another is often only a small part of our lives. If we can recognize one another’s humanity and what we have in common, that what we don’t agree on is rarely a reason to divide ourselves from one another. In all but one case out of thousands, we were able to find common ground, often around growing food for ourselves and future generations, or on the intricacies of what it means to design for human use.
As Martin said, let us listen twice as often as we speak, so we might all be heard.
If you have a question you’d like answered on air, start the conversation by getting in touch. Leave a comment below or send an email to: The Permaculture Podcast
Until the next time, spend each day creating resilience, while taking care of Earth, yourself, and each other.