The solution to so many of the world's major problems including food production, soil loss, fresh water, growth and debt based economics, consumer throw away culture, environmental contamination, loss of cohesive communities, population explosion, lack of direction, non-renewable energy, biodiversity loss and destruction of wilderness is one simple and powerful concept: re-localization.
A community that provides for its needs locally or within the local bio-region solves these above problems. We can use permaculture design to get there. Permaculture provides the framework to adapt and evolve the local patterns into a cohesive whole where the elements of the system are deeply interconnected and provide a resiliency mimicking a natural ecology.
The means are there in diverse fields from natural building to ecological farming to alternative economic systems. The town that builds from at hand materials, grows its own food, provides meat and dairy, has many small scale energy generation capabilities, supports a thriving local economy and locally owned business community, participates in transparent and open local decision making, uses its own currency, contains skilled people who are self-employed, produces little waste, is freshwater independent and has a vision of where it is headed is a vibrant place with a real culture and connection to life.
The time has long passed to sit back and wait for government to provide any real leadership or initiation on these fronts. It is up to the people to move in this direction. Time of course, is truly of the essence. Peak everything is upon us. The system that brings us our food, energy, water and other basic needs is more vulnerable by the day. Community resiliency is the key to withstanding shock from the outside.
The solutions are there. Let us design ourselves out of dependence and into abundance.
