Permaculture has developed one of the most coherent frameworks for regenerative land use design available; yet it remains largely absent from formal policy discourse. Meanwhile, agroecology is gaining traction at national and international levels, appearing in food sovereignty frameworks, national agricultural strategies, and UN-aligned policy instruments. Permaculture is occasionally referenced as a subset of agroecology, but this framing undersells its design methodology and risks reducing it to a loose set of practices rather than a systems-level approach to land, resource, and community design.

This project examines the interface between permaculture and agroecology policy. We will review two to three national policy documents that formally integrate agroecological principles, mapping where permaculture’s design framework either already intersects with or could meaningfully strengthen those policy positions. From this analysis, we will develop a set of concrete recommendations for how permaculture as a distinct and rigorous design system might begin to enter policy conversations at national level.

The work is exploratory and analytical rather than prescriptive. The team will determine the specific countries and documents reviewed, but the output will be a structured, evidence-informed document that CoLab members and permaculture advocates can use as a foundation for ongoing policy engagement.