For two decades, Natalie has been supporting communities devastated by hurricanes, drought, floods, conflict, and wars. Water is at the core of human resilience whether in humanitarian emergencies, recovery, or long-term development and community planning. In this presentation, Natalie takes us through work she has led in various contexts to support community and household water security – from harvesting greywater to passive water harvesting design at a catchments scale.

ABOUT NATALIE TOPA: Natalie Topa is a regenerative and circular educator and designer who has worked hands-on in Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia and focused on resilience in forced displacement for almost 20 years. She is the creator of the Sponge Village concept and a hands-on designer and advocate of passive water harvesting, soil building, agro-biodiversity recovery, indigenous food, and seed systems. Natalie is also the founder of Utopa Design and a member of United Designers International.

Click below to watch a recording of the session

The post Designing for Water Resilience appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I remember an old saying from an Australian farmer about the variability rain – too much, too little, too late, or too soon.  As gardeners, we need to plan for this variability.  As water can be one of the limiting factors for healthy plant grow, there are a few simple strategies you can use in your garden that will make a difference between a thriving crop of kale or a fairly mediocre one.

The six points I discuss are:

1. slow it
2. spread it
3. sink it
4. store it
5. reuse it
6. plant well

I hope you enjoy this masterclass and feel free to have a look at my other ones.

Here are links to two other masterclasses:

• Masterclass #11: Permaculture Design for Happy Chickens and Eggs
• Masterclass #10: 5 Ways to Compost In-Situ

The post How to create a water saving garden appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.