PDC PDC Community & Social Permaculture 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does the permaculture principle 'Care for People' emphasize in community design?
- Ensuring human needs are met through equitable access to resources, community support, and fair participation (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing individual land ownership over shared resources
- Maximizing economic output for landowners
- Reducing human involvement in ecosystem management
Correct answer: Ensuring human needs are met through equitable access to resources, community support, and fair participation
Care for People is one of the three permaculture ethics, recognizing that social well-being and equitable human systems are inseparable from ecological health.
Question 2: In social permaculture, what is a 'commons'?
- A shared resource managed collectively by a community according to agreed rules (Correct answer)
- A public park maintained by a city government
- Private land leased to multiple farmers
- A database of open-source permaculture designs
Correct answer: A shared resource managed collectively by a community according to agreed rules
A commons is any resource—land, water, knowledge—governed and maintained collectively by a defined community through participatory agreements rather than private or state ownership.
Question 3: Which design tool is commonly used in PDC courses to map community needs, resources, and relationships?
- Community asset mapping (Correct answer)
- SWOT analysis
- Gantt chart
- Agile sprint planning
Correct answer: Community asset mapping
Community asset mapping identifies existing strengths, skills, relationships, and resources within a community, forming the basis for resilient social permaculture design.
Question 4: What is a 'transition town' in the context of community permaculture?
- A community-led initiative to build resilience and reduce fossil fuel dependence through local action (Correct answer)
- A government program to relocate rural communities to urban centers
- A zoning classification for mixed-use development
- A permaculture farm school accredited by Transition Network
Correct answer: A community-led initiative to build resilience and reduce fossil fuel dependence through local action
Transition Towns are grassroots community initiatives inspired partly by permaculture that work to build local food, energy, and economic resilience as an alternative to fossil fuel dependence.
Question 5: How does permaculture apply 'zone 0' to human social systems?
- Zone 0 represents the self and household—the starting point for personal and community change (Correct answer)
- Zone 0 is the outermost wilderness area requiring no human intervention
- Zone 0 refers to the most productive agricultural land on a farm
- Zone 0 is a legal term for conservation easements
Correct answer: Zone 0 represents the self and household—the starting point for personal and community change
In social permaculture, Zone 0 extends inward to the self—values, mindset, and household practices—as the foundation from which all broader community and ecological change radiates.
Question 6: What is the concept of 'fair share' in permaculture ethics?
- Taking only what you need and redistributing surplus to people and the earth (Correct answer)
- Dividing land equally among all community members
- Setting prices fairly for permaculture design services
- Ensuring equal planting space for all species in a garden
Correct answer: Taking only what you need and redistributing surplus to people and the earth
Fair Share, the third permaculture ethic, calls for limiting consumption and sharing surplus—whether food, money, knowledge, or labor—to ensure equity for present and future generations.
PDC PDC Community & Social Permaculture 1
What does the permaculture principle 'Care for People' emphasize in community design?