About GRLPI
First, what is Permaculture?
“Permaculture is about working with the earth and with each other to repair the damage of industrial overreach and to enrich the living world that sustains us.” - Peter Bane
By looking at our lives, our resource use, and our communities as an integrated system, we can better take care of each other and our planet. Much of permaculture’s focus is on how we grow our food, moving away from industrial and environmentally harmful practices agricultural practices to food systems that work with nature and are healthier for all.
Who Is GRLPI?
Great Rivers and Lakes Permaculture Institute (GRLPI) acts as a regional hub for the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA). We are dedicated to promoting permaculture education, research, and mutual aid throughout six states that span many of North America’s great rivers and Great Lakes: Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
We here in the Midwest are clustered around the similarity of large river basin watersheds and the Great Lakes which defines our permaculture practices. We are identifying the eco-tones within our region, such as Appalachian Foothills, Lake Shore or Prairies to identify best practices based on those unique landscapes to ultimately share with with our Membership.
Are you a Permaculture designer, graduate, grower, business person, enthusiast, or merely curious about us? Please join us and help us grow the Permaculture network.
Our Vision
We envision engaged and connected citizens creating a resilient bioregion by drawing the wisdom of the elders and of Nature together with practical skills and resources to heal our disturbed ecosystems and rebalance human impacts and needs within the rich and diverse landscape that 50 million of us call home.
Our Mission
We mobilize permaculture graduates in the region to organize for mutual aid and collective action. We translate and represent permaculture across professions, disciplines, and governmental bodies. We conduct, disseminate, and apply research into appropriate technologies and regenerative cultural systems, promote education and best practices, and offer resources for permaculture design and professional development for graduates and practitioners