Principles · working draft
Principles, written in the open.
These are the intentions Permaculture Fund is being built on. They are a working draft, not a contract. We want to sharpen them with the people on the waitlist before any fund is formed.
Three ethics. One filter.
Permaculture rests on three ethics. We intend to hold every decision up to all three at once, not one at a time.
-
// ethic 01
Earth Care
Care for soil, water, air and every living thing. The fund intends to back work that leaves land and ecosystems healthier than it found them.
- Favour regenerative models over extractive ones.
- Ask how each enterprise touches the land.
- Count living systems as part of success.
-
// ethic 02
People Care
Care for ourselves, our communities and the people who do the work. Good enterprises are good places to work and good neighbours.
- Back founders who treat people fairly.
- Keep decisions clear and accountable.
- Value the knowledge of growers and builders.
-
// ethic 03
Fair Share
Set limits and share the surplus. What grows from shared knowledge should keep feeding the commons it came from.
- Set aside a share of any surplus for the commons.
- Keep the fruits of open work open.
- Seek terms that are fair to founders and communities.
How we intend to invest.
Each principle borrows from a permaculture design principle. Its source is noted beside it. All of them are intentions for a fund that does not exist yet.
-
01from: observe and interact
Listen before we fund.
We intend to learn from growers, builders and founders before we back anything. The waitlist is where that listening starts.
-
02from: produce no waste
Open by default.
Knowledge locked away is waste. We intend to favour open licences, open data and open standards, so what we help grow can be grown again by others.
-
03from: obtain a yield
Profit that serves a purpose.
Good work has to pay its way to last. We intend to back enterprises that can earn a living, and to judge success by more than money.
-
04from: use and value diversity
Polyculture, not monoculture.
Many kinds of work, in many places, led by many kinds of people. Diversity is what makes a living system resilient.
-
05from: use small and slow solutions
Patient horizons.
We would rather grow slowly and soundly than chase a fast exit. Living systems work in seasons, not quarters.
-
06from: integrate rather than segregate
Guilds over silos.
In a plant guild, each species helps the others thrive. We intend to connect the enterprises we back so they can share tools, knowledge and markets.
-
07from: accept feedback
Feedback, in the open.
We intend to report openly on what the fund does and learns, to invite feedback, and to change course when we are wrong.
-
08from: value the marginal
Look to the edges.
Some of the best work happens at the margins: small farms, young projects, overlooked places. We intend to look there first.
Lines we hold.
A fund in formation should be clear about what it is not. These lines hold today and are meant to hold for good.
No promised returns.
We do not promise, project or imply returns. You will not find performance figures here, because there is no fund yet.
No offer on this site.
Nothing here is an offer. Any offering would be made only through formal offering documents, to eligible investors, where permitted by law.
No borrowed credibility.
We will not name partners, investors or investments until they are real and agreed.
No greenwash.
If we cannot show the care, we will not claim it.
// shape the draft
Help write the next draft.
Join the waitlist and tell us what you would add, cut or sharpen.