The Finnish Permaculture Association was founded to promote, advocate, implement and develop permaculture in Finland. The Association uses sociocracy for governance and all decision making. The Association currently has the General Circle for coordination and six sub-circles (Communications, Education, Membership, Events, Festival, Forest Garden), each responsible for their specific domain and represented in the general circle with a double link. Ad hoc circles are created when needed.
The Association supports its members and various Finnish permaculture actors in their work. We aim to find them, bring them together and facilitate communication and networking. The member circle is founded for this purpose. We also host a Discord server and various social media accounts to provide platforms for communication. The Discord server serves our internal communications (each circle has its own channel) and as a wider platform for permaculture discussions where membership isn’t required. We advertise our members’ projects on our homepage and blog. We also help to find funding for various permaculture projects and channel it as needed.
The Association produces and channels various kinds of information and materials in the communication circle. We actively search for ways to raise awareness about permaculture to wider audiences and media. We produce articles and maintain a website with a blog. We host an open networking event (Permapiirit, Perma Circles) to discuss various permaculture topics on a monthly basis. There is also a podcast and an image database in the making. We keep in touch with our members by sending at least four member letters annually.
The Association aims to advance permaculture education in Finland in various ways. Our goal is that at least one PDC course is organised in Finnish yearly. We keep a register of Finnish permaculture teachers and support them in their work. We advertise their courses and facilitate their communication and cooperation in the education circle. We also aim to produce and provide education materials.
The Association also maintains international relations to other permaculture associations and other relevant organizations. We build networks especially with other Nordic countries where permaculture actors have most in common due to similar climate and culture and we also particpate in European networks. We advertise travel opportunities, travel regularly to international permaculture network meetings and also host international permaculture events whenever possible. In July 2025 we will organise a national Permaculture Festival for the first time. In 2016 and 2022 we have hosted the Nordic Permaculture Festival which should be in Finland again in 2027. These and other events are the work of the event circle and a separate Festival circle.
We also plan and arrange events regarding education. Our General Assembly meetings (spring and autumn) include other program so that they are more interesting to our membership. The spring meeting 2025 is the first time that we jointly arrange a weekend gathering including the general spring assemblies of four associations (The Permaculture Association, GEN Finland, Biodynamic association and Ikikaiku foundation).
The forest garden circle is an example of an active circle with a specific topic within permaculture. We hope to create other similar circles for other topics depending on the needs and interests of our membership.
