Knowledge bank
Multimedia permaculture resources
The Tropical Permaculture Guidebook – (Volumes 1, 2 and 3)
The Tropical Permaculture Guidebook – international edition was developed by Permatil Global with support from Permatil TL. It is a practical resource designed to help people strengthen food sovereignty, facilitate environmental regeneration, mitigate climate change and build resilient and sustainable communities across the globe.
Launched in 2018, the three-volume set consists of 18 topic specific chapters, with over 1,100 pages and 2,000 illustrations, it is a comprehensive guide of permaculture tools and knowledge. It was updated and expanded from the highly successful Permaculture Guidebook – a gift from Timor-Leste, published in 2008.
Recognised internationally as the only comprehensive permaculture guidebook specifically designed for the tropics, the resources have been downloaded over 145,000 times across 160 countries and 30 territorial regions. This overwhelming response highlights the guidebooks’ popularity, relevance and practical application world-wide.
The knowledge bank provides opportunities for ongoing learning, building capacity at multiple levels – from early learners, school students, youth, farmers, other community members, to higher learners and train-the-trainer facilitators. They help build confidence and provide support for life-long learning in multiple languages.
Written from an end-user’s perspective, the resources are easy to follow with detailed illustrations designed to help communicate the techniques, especially to people with low or no literacy skills. It provides the practical knowledge needed to implement and maintain a variety of permaculture techniques using local resources at minimal cost. With a focus on video and illustration-based knowledge sharing, the resources are accessible to everyone The guidebook is accessible and sensitive to the needs of women, particularly in low- to middle-income economies, and reduces barriers to training, skills development, work and livelihood opportunities.
The resources are built with 70-years of permaculture knowledge and experience, including from authors and expert contributors to a valued network of editors, reviewers, researchers, production designers and artists.
Multimedia resources opening up access to education
New to the Knowledge Bank is a series of demonstration video resources, based on the highly successful Tropical Permaculture Guidebook – international edition.
The videos provide easy-to-follow, visually based information to enhance learning and further support communities to develop food, water and climate resilience everywhere.
The video series focuses on explaining climate adaptation strategies differently, through the use of highly visual demonstrations of permaculture principles and techniques, without the need for voice-over explanations. By reducing language and literacy as barriers to education, the series is designed for everyone to use, providing universal access to community-transforming multimedia educational resources.
New resources in development
On the back of this international success and the significant impacts of Permatil’s on the ground water restoration work across Timor-Leste, in 2024 we plan to produce and publish a fourth volume of The Tropical Permaculture Guidebook entitled ‘Planting water‘– water restoration and catchment management. It will be a comprehensive guide of permaculture tools and knowledge designed to help communities address the increasing global need for water, food and climate resilience everywhere, especially in majority world countries.
Our focus on quality ensures the guidebook can be used in the field to support communities, farmers, teachers, government departments, universities, schools and NGOs, and will be a valuable reference for students and new practitioners. Companion resources such as facilitators guides and animations will also be produced to strengthen the impact and accessibility of Volume 4.
Just and fair
Permatil Global acknowledges the ‘fair share’ economy. Our ‘pay what you can’ model ensures people can access the resources regardless of their income, ability or location. In many cases, people living below the poverty line, are able to download the resources for free, removing money as a barrier to knowledge. This is a core part of our ethos as an organisation, to make the resources accessible for those who need them most.
Growing momentum across the globe
Currently, The Tropical Permaculture Guidebook – international edition is published in English and Tetum, (national language of Timor-Leste). The English edition provides broad access to the guidebook across the English speaking world, however for most tropical countries English isn’t the national or working language. We are working towards Spanish, French, Portuguese and Indonesian Editions with more to follow. Volume 4 will also be translated into multiple languages as funds and time allow.
