The Permaculture Systems Thinking Handbook

David Holmgren, a co-founder of permaculture, defined permaculture as the use of systems thinking and design principles to construct an organizing framework for "deliberately designed landscapes that mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs.”

Holmgren stated that the influence of systems thinking in the development of permaculture and its design principles was not through extensive study of the literature but more through an osmotic absorption of ideas from the "cultural ether". He further stated that useful principles must be constantly questioned and further articulated to help practitioners recognize creative solutions more clearly.

The Permaculture Systems Thinking Handbook aims to respond to Holmgren’s invitation. It does so by making a side-by-side comparison between the founders' permaculture design principles, as set out in their respective seminal publications, with systems thinking principles, laws, and theorems. In the ensuing chapters, each of the founders' permaculture principles is then explained through the lens of systems thinking.