Permaculture Games and Activities

Hey there,

I'm looking for a few fun ways to introduce permaculture thinking to groups who visit me.   I am going to use Rosemary Morrow's "Environment Game" from "Earth User's Guide to Teaching Permaculture".

Anything else you can think of?  I feel like games are a great way for both adults and children to learn, and also a fantastic ice breaker.

Thanks heaps,

Wow. Just two days ago I was thinking about building a permaculture-themed game based on the Engle-Matrix system which is more commonly used for free-from wargames, but is flexible enough, I think.

Oh now, that sounds perfect!  I'll put that on my list of games to try.  I bet it's going to be a hit.  Also?  DO IT!  Build that game.  And let us know when you're ready to roll it out.

Christopher Weeks wrote:Wow. Just two days ago I was thinking about building a permaculture-themed game based on the Engle-Matrix system which is more commonly used for free-from wargames, but is flexible enough, I think.

A lot of work went into the making of the Permaculture Playing Cards by Paul Wheaton and Alexander Ojeda:

This deck of cards is one of our favorite tools for spreading the knowledge of permaculture

http://permies.com/wiki/57503/Permaculture-Playing-Cards-Paul-Wheaton

Here are some threads that might have other ideas:

http://permies.com/t/54303/Food-Forest-card-game-KICKSTARTER

http://permies.com/t/20040/Board-games-games-winter

http://permies.com/t/118088/art/Bridging-gap-mindless-casual-games

http://permies.com/t/131396/Permaculture-Board-Game

http://permies.com/t/22514/Permaculture-Game

I consider all games, regardless of what the official theme of the game is, as training for Permaculture design if they require flexible thinking to find/generate/connect "resources" within the constraints of the game*. Two examples off the top of my head:

I consider Catan and its many spin-offs to be useful for this kind of thinking.
Also, Monopoly (the way we played it 30 years ago, anyway)--is really all about channeling resource flows, I realized when teaching it to my daughter last year.

* And in using the term "constraints" I include: the game board (or lack thereof), the specific rules of the game, and the influence of random input  from rolls of the die or cards flipped. etc.

Anne Miller wrote:A lot of work went into the making of the Permaculture Playing Cards by Paul Wheaton and Alexander Ojeda:

This deck of cards is one of our favorite tools for spreading the knowledge of permaculture

http://permies.com/wiki/57503/Permaculture-Playing-Cards-Paul-Wheaton

Here are some threads that might have other ideas:

http://permies.com/t/54303/Food-Forest-card-game-KICKSTARTER

http://permies.com/t/20040/Board-games-games-winter

http://permies.com/t/118088/art/Bridging-gap-mindless-casual-games

http://permies.com/t/131396/Permaculture-Board-Game

http://permies.com/t/22514/Permaculture-Game

I actually own a deck and I love it.  I'll check out the other links.