About Our Permaculture Life – Morag Gamble

Morag Gamble and Family
Image from Salt Magazine (Spring 2015)
My name is Morag Gamble. I grew up with the ethics and practice of healthy and sustainable living. My childhood was spent in the a leafy green suburb on the outskirts of Melbourne on an island in the Gippsland Lakes area.


I discovered permaculture in my teens and it felt like a natural fit – a way to care for the earth and care for people – a way to make a positive contribution and create ripples of positivity in the world.

My work and life are totally interwoven through the connecting fabric of permaculture. I love community gardens, food coops, ecovillage living, permaculture education, school gardens, earning through a permaculture livelihood, and natural parenting and homeschooling.

I share this permaculture life with my husband, Evan, and three children.

We live in a permaculture village near Maleny in the subtropical part of southeast Queensland, Australia. We designed and built our modular eco-home – with much appreciated help from my family.

We are mortgage-free and live simply. Our income is derived from permaculture-related activities.

We grow a lot of our own vegetables, herbs and fruit in the polycultural garden-playground surrounding our home. We collect all our own water, deal with our wastewater on site. We produce most of our own power.

We love our life here. The kids love the space, the freedom, the wildlife and the friendships. They value the environmental responsible way of life. They get it!

There are always more we can do, and we are always looking for ways to reduce our ecological impact and improve the educational impact we can have. We’ll keep learning and sharing!

Morag Gamble has been featured on and spoken at:​

  • Schumacher College, Master of Holistic Science, Plymouth University, ENGLAND (Design for Life: a 3 week residential course co–taught with Janine Benyus)
  • UNSECO Master of Sustainability, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Terrassa, SPAIN 
  • Faculty of Agriculture, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAIN
  • Faculty of Social Science, Genova University, ITALY
  • School of Sustainable Systems, University of East Anglia, ENGLAND
  • Master of Sustainable Design, University of East London, Centre for Alternative Technology, WALES
  • Centre for Human Ecology, Edinburgh University, SCOTLAND
  • International Agricultural Development, University of California (Davis) USA
  • Humphrey Fellows Lecture, International House, University of California (Davis), USA 
  • Liberal Studies, University of New Mexico, USA
  • Faculty of Built Environment, Seoul National University, SOUTH KOREA
  • Green University, Hamyang Province, SOUTH KOREA
  • Faculty of Architecture and Design,Nippon University, Tokyo, JAPAN
  • Master of Environmental Education, Griffith University, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • School of Science, Griffith University, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Faculty of Built Environment, QUT, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Urban Design & Environmental Management, University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • School of Landscape Architecture, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
  • School of Environmental Planning and Design, University of Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
  • Year of Design Lecture, Barcelona City Hall, SPAIN
  • Portogruaro Town Hall, Venezia, ITALY
  • Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) of Europe, ITALY
  • Dartington College of The Arts, ENGLAND
  • Energy 21, Stroud Town Hall, ENGLAND
  • Findhorn Foundation, GEN Europe, SCOTLAND
  • Occidental Arts and Ecology Centre, CA, USA
  • Centre for Ecoliteracy with Ecocity Builders (with Fritjof Capra and Richard Register), Berkeley, USA
  • Global Ecovillage Network of the Americas, Tennessee USA
  • Alternative Technology Center, SOUTH KOREA
  • Pool Moo College, Chuncheon Province, SOUTH KOREA
  • Soil Research Union, 10th Anniversary Lecture – Keynote, Memuro Town Hall, Hokkaido JAPAN
  • Ladakh Ecological Development Centre (Helene Norberg-Hodge), Leh, Ladakh, INDIA
  • Balcova Arts Centre, Balcova Local Govt, Izmir, TURKEY
  • The Island School, Eleuthera Island (with Amory Lovins, John Todd, David Orr) The BAHAMAS
  • Centre for Sustainable Havana, Havana, CUBA
  • Woodford Festival, Woodford Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Real Food Festival, Maleny, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Queensland Garden Expo, Nambour, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Courageous Conversations, Gondwana Centre, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Urban Agriculture Lecture, Brisbane Town Hall, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Local Food, Griffith University Ecocentre Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Sustainable Design Lecture,AGDF & QUT, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
  • Kadoorie Botanic Gardens, HONG KONG
  • Urban Agriculture lecture, Faculty of Design, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG
  • Australian Urban Agriculture Forum, MELBOURNE
  • International Permaculture Conference, Perth AUSTRALIA
  • Food Politics Lecturer, Griffith University, Brisbane AUSTRALIA
  • Regular Sustainable Living Workshops, Brisbane City Council, AUSTRALIA
 

​Media and Youtube Interviews

Morag is the Founding advisor of:

  • Hong Kong Permaculture Institute
  • IDEP Foundation (Indonesian Permaculture Institute)

Morag is the Co-Founder of:

  • Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network
  • Northey Street City Farm