Prémio Revista de Permacultura

Located in the mountainous island of Shikoku, Japan, Forest School Mikke exists to foster a culture of creative actions towards a sustainable and regenerative society.

Mikke is based in Kamiyama, a small town in Tokushima Prefecture. Like many rural towns across Japan, Kamiyama is on a path towards an ageing society and needs to create a reason for younger people to move to or stay in the town. It is within this context that Mikke is engaged in two major initiatives: school management and forest restoration.

Mikke is an alternative school where elementary school-aged children (6–12 years old) learn through an interdisciplinary curriculum based on food, clothing, and shelter, using the forest as a learning environment. Since its opening in 2022, 28 students have enrolled, and 191 participants have joined short-term programs such as summer school. Through its educational activities, Mikke fosters exchanges between people of different generations, fields, and backgrounds in the community. To date, it has held 11 community events with a total of 270 participants.

Like other rural areas in the region, Kamiyama is covered with unharvested monoculture forests of cedar and cypress, planted as part of post-war policies. This has led to a decrease in biodiversity, soil degradation and other undesirable downstream effects. The team at Mikke works to restore these neglected forests so sunlight can reach the forest floor and foster healthy ecosystems. Mikke has planted 70 fruit trees. By the autumn of 2026, to coincide with a new school building, Mikke aims to source timber from its own land and set up a firewood station.

A Habilin Farms é um centro de agroeducação e empoderamento da comunidade nas Filipinas, oferecendo workshops, treinamento e experiências práticas em permacultura e vida sustentável.

Fundada por um pequeno grupo de pessoas que pensam da mesma forma, a fazenda começou como uma iniciativa modesta para cultivar produtos orgânicos e praticar métodos agrícolas regenerativos. Localizada nas paisagens rurais de Tayabas, Quezon, a fazenda está localizada em um terreno fértil cercado por uma rica biodiversidade e flora nativa, o que a torna um centro ideal para a permacultura. Com o tempo, a Habilin Farms evoluiu para um modelo de ecoturismo e empoderamento da comunidade, oferecendo experiências imersivas como oficinas de bambu, acampamento na floresta e refeições da fazenda para a mesa.

Desde sua fundação, a fazenda alcançou algumas metas significativas, incluindo:

• Estabelecer uma forte conexão com os agricultores locais por meio da Organic Farmers’ Association (Associação de Agricultores Orgânicos).
  
• Apoio a pequenos agricultores por meio de projetos como o Farm-to-Tray Project, uma colaboração com hospitais locais que fornece vegetais saudáveis e sem produtos químicos de agricultores orgânicos.
  
• Implementação de um esquema de certificação orgânica com foco local (conhecido como Sistema de Garantia Participativa).
  
• Fazer lobby com sucesso para a aprovação de uma lei municipal que institucionaliza a agricultura orgânica em Tayabas.
  
• Realização de várias oficinas de permacultura e criação de oportunidades para que visitantes com consciência ecológica se envolvam em atividades baseadas na natureza.

As iniciativas em andamento têm como objetivo expandir a agricultura orgânica, o ecoturismo e os projetos baseados na comunidade, estabelecendo ainda mais a Habilin Farms como pioneira no desenvolvimento sustentável e na regeneração da região.

Seaforestation.co regenerates life in the ocean and revitalises livelihoods for seaweed farmers, smallholder rice farmers, and coastal communities – many of whom are on the frontlines of climate disruption.

Founded in 2022, Seaforestation.co was established to address the urgent need for ocean regeneration and climate justice. Specifically, the organization focuses on restoring primary productivity in marine ecosystems, which are essential for global food security and stabilising economies in coastal and rural areas affected by climate change. By fostering sustainable economies and introducing innovative marine permaculture techniques, Seaforestation.co works to foster sustainable economies while  addressing critical environmental and economic challenges.

Operating across national borders, Seaforestation.co targets economically disadvantaged communities, particularly in Southeast Asia. It has established operations in regions such as the Central Philippines, where climate impacts are most severe. Many of these communities depend on vulnerable ecosystems for their survival, including seaweed farming and rice cultivation, both of which are increasingly threatened by heatwaves, droughts, and floods.

Seaforestation has successfully implemented a half-acre marine permaculture pilot, demonstrating the effectiveness of regenerative ocean farming. This initiative has enabled the production of over 8,000 litres of seaweed biostimulant, benefiting nearly a thousand rice farmers by improving crop resilience and yields in the face of climate challenges.

The Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute (IMAP) was founded in 2000 by a group of Maya Kaqchikel community members from San Lucas Tolimán, along the shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.

The founders were deeply concerned about the environmental and social problems that affected so many living beings around the lake. The forced imposition of monoculture cash crops threatened communities’ food sovereignty, reduced land access, and contributed to environmental degradation. These farmers knew their ancestors lived in harmony with nature, stewarding the land and caring for their communities’ food and medicinal needs with native plants. However, colonialism violently wrested those cultural, spiritual, and agricultural practices from communities.

IMAP has worked for 24 years, combining permaculture education with the recuperation and application of ancestral knowledge. It develops knowledge and skills needed to guarantee food sovereignty, community development and biodiversity. IMAP has supported 15,000+ small farmers to produce, harvest, and use native plants and seeds like amaranth and chia in polyculture plots. These plants are better adapted to local conditions and resistant to disease, fighting malnutrition and helping local people become more resilient in the face of climate change.

IMAP believes efforts to support local biodiversity must include:

• Embracing local growing traditions.
• Invigorating the rural economy.
• Preserving Indigenous cultures.

By focusing on food sovereignty – the right to produce and eat wholesome, culturally relevant food – sustainable, agroecological solutions are created that provide sustenance, promote ancestral practices, and support campesino farming based on respect for Mother Earth.

Através de vários projetos, envolvimento da comunidade e profundo respeito pelo conhecimento tradicional, o Projeto Pitak capacitou pequenos agricultores e inúmeros membros do público a se conscientizarem e adotarem práticas que honram a terra e seus povos.

Fundado em 2013, no norte de Luzon, Filipinas, Pitak é uma fazenda de menos de um hectare localizada a 250 pés acima do nível do mar. Pitak é o termo Ilocano (o principal idioma falado no norte das Filipinas) para lama. O nome simboliza o vínculo entre o solo rico e a água que dá vida. Ele também incorpora a aspiração dos fundadores de construir naturalmente e produzir alimentos através da permacultura. Esse humilde pedaço de terra se tornou uma sala de aula viva e um centro vibrante de vida e convivência.

O trabalho de Pitak inclui a agricultura regenerativa que revitaliza a saúde do solo e os ecossistemas, além de apoiar os pequenos agricultores locais para garantir meios de subsistência sustentáveis. O trabalho não se refere apenas à agricultura: trata-se de curar a desconexão que muitas vezes separa as pessoas do próprio solo em que pisam. Aplicam princípios regenerativos tanto no cultivo da terra quanto no cultivo da comunidade, buscando soluções que aumentem a segurança alimentar, o bem-estar e a dignidade. Suas iniciativas promovem a independência econômica, preservam o conhecimento indígena e criam resiliência em face de desafios como mudanças climáticas e escassez de recursos.

A Pitak acredita no poder dos esforços locais e de pequena escala para desencadear mudanças significativas. O impacto repercutiu no exterior, inspirando iniciativas semelhantes que continuam a contribuir para a formação de uma rede de profissionais comprometidos com a regeneração ecológica e social.

Youth Initiative for Community Empowerment (YICE) is a refugee-led organization that focuses on implementing regenerative practices for subsistence farmers in rural Uganda, especially women, youth, and refugees.

YICE employs permaculture techniques that align with nature, enabling larger harvests, reducing deforestation, and maintaining healthy soil and water, which helps mitigate climate change. In Kassanda and Isingiro Districts, YICE trains rural communities, equipping them with practical skills to enhance nutrition and earnings while fostering collaboration through small groups. The organization also provides vital resources like farming equipment, water harvesting kits, and seeds, which many farmers find unaffordable.

YICE empowers trainees to achieve sustainable food security, improve health, restore soil and water, and build economic resilience. By collaborating with local agricultural organizations and government entities, YICE offers tailored training in regenerative farming and climate change awareness, along with ongoing support for establishing traditional food gardens and fruit tree plantings.

Since its inception, YICE has:

• Directly impacted 8,540 individuals (81% women and children) who have achieved a 75% increase in food security and a 34% increase in incomes from food sales.
• Planted nearly 8,000 fruit trees and regenerated over 1,000 acres of land.
• Earned multiple awards, including the 2019 Spring Prize Award under Young Projects Category, the 2021 Ashden Award for Regenerative Farming, the 2019 UNDP Climate Change Award and the 2020 Youth, Water and Climate Award