Permaculture Design

Permaculture is a design system for creating abundant, productive lived spaces. It combines ecology and traditional practices to create a simple system of ethics and principles, as well as lots of practical ideas for creating integrated gardens, homes and neighbourhoods.

The core idea of permaculture is about seeing whole systems instead of individual parts, and concentrating on the connections between elements, not the elements themselves.
A permaculture site, instead of treating household waste and the garden as separate elements, connects them in a nutrient cycle by composting waste or feeding it to chickens before returning it to the soil.

Permaculture principles can help with many aspects of designing our spaces to be more liveable and sustainable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

http://www.seedinternational.com.au/pc_principles.html

http://permacultureprinciples.com/principles.php

Som good introductory books are Bill Mollisons "Introduction to Permaculture" and Linda Woodrows "The Permaculture Home Garden".