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2025/2026  BA-BSOCV2501U  Permaculture: A Sustainable Design Framework for Business, Lifestyle and Community

English Title
Permaculture: A Sustainable Design Framework for Business, Lifestyle and Community

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Second Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board of Global Relations
Course coordinator
  • Maribel Blasco - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Isabel Fröes will be co-coordinating and teaching this course with me
Main academic disciplines
  • CSR and sustainability
  • Philosophy and ethics
  • Sociology
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 28-02-2025

Relevant links
Learning objectives
  • Identify a real-life problem facing businesses/community/lifestyle when it comes to living up to sustainability goals, and formulate this problem as a research question
  • Describe how the permaculture framework can support regenerative approaches in the chosen domain of study
  • Apply the permaculture framework to a case selected by the student group within one of the three course themes
  • Critically evaluate the applicability of the permaculture framework for addressing the problem in question
  • Apply the PC principles in designing/organising your own project and/or groupwork process, and reflect on the benefits and challenges of doing this
Examination
Permaculture: A Sustainable Design Framework for Business, Lifestyle and Community:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam
Please note the rules in the Programme Regulations about identification of individual contributions.
Number of people in the group 3-4
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Release of assignment An assigned subject is released in class
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The students write an assignment in which they apply the permaculture design ethics and principles to a selected challenge in one of the  following areas: i) business ii) community iii) lifestyle. The assignment should show whether and how permaculture could enhance sustainable and/or regenerative practices and approaches in the chosen area.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

 

Course content

 

The course will offer an introduction to the permaculture design framework as a tool for designing sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges faced by business, communities and individuals' lifestyle.  

 

Permaculture offers a systems thinking-based framework for designing regenerative ways of living that aim to maximize beneficial relationships by working with rather than against nature (broadly defined) to enhance resilience, diversity, productivity and stability.  The permaculture framework is increasingly being applied worldwide to inspire more sustainable businesses, to improve biodiversity, energy efficiency and mental health, and to design livable, humane social systems, organizations and lifestyles. In a business context, the principles have been applied to support sustainable production, business development and circularity as well as better functioning organisations and leadership; in communities they have been used to enhance wellbeing and strengthen social networks as well as to inform innovative and equitable forms of social organization; and in lifestyles they have been used to inspire more humane and sustainable consumption.

 

Permaculture emphasizes personal responsibility, encouraging practitioners to think creatively about practical steps that can be taken in one's own context to mitigate contemporary global and local challenges.

 

The course will consist of three modules, each addressing ways in which permaculture is being used to rethink the three course areas: i) business ii) community iii) lifestyle. Critical perspectives on permaculture will also be addressed.  

 

 
Research-based teaching
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
  • New theory
  • Teacher’s own research
  • Models
Research-like activities
  • Development of research questions
  • Data collection
  • Analysis
  • Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
  • Students conduct independent research-like activities under supervision
Description of the teaching methods
Teaching methods

Students will learn and apply theories, methods and tools applied to real cases, and hands-on course activities.

Teaching methods will consist of: interactive lectures, student participation and presentations, as well as on-site teaching in CBS’ own permaculture garden, Permahaven. Students will also be required to use the permaculture design framework in organising/managing their own groupwork and/or project process, and to report on their experiences with this in the exam.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students will receive feedback on their presentation ideas both from the teacher and from peers, during the course practice presentations
Student workload
preparation for lectures 50 hours
Project preparation and execution 156 hours
Expected literature

Holmgren, D. (2020). Essence of permaculture. Seymour, VIC, Australia: Melliodora Publishing.

 

Everett, E. (2022). Combining the circular economy, doughnut economy, and permaculture to create a holistic economic model for future generations. Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 15(1), 19.

 

Macnamara, L., & Storch, R. (2012). People and permaculture. Hampshire, United Kingdom: Permanent Publications. Chapters on the Permaculture  ‘Working in Groups’

 

Hahn, T., & Tampe, M. (2021). Strategies for regenerative business. Strategic Organization, 19(3), 456-477.

 

Aiken, G. (2017) Permaculture and the social design

of nature, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 99:2, 172-191

 

Centemeri, L. (2019). Rethinking environmentalism in a ‘ruined’world: Lessons from the permaculture movement. In The Role of Non-state Actors in the Green Transition (pp. 95-113). Routledge.

 

Abiral, B. (2019). Permaculture and Ecological Lifestyle: A Restricted Radicalism? In Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics (pp. 477-491). Routledge.

 

Haney, T. J., & Morrow, A. (2024). “We’re Still on That Treadmill”: Privilege, Reflexivity, and the Disruptive Potential of Permaculture. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 35(2), 96-115.
Last updated on 28-02-2025