Quantifying the Connections in a Permaculture Landscape using the PLN-6 Model

The PLN-6 model summarizes the relationships between the six component categories in permaculture landscape, similar to a 'food web.' Using the model, different landscape designs can be easily compared based on networked component relationships.

Out of the many outputs that we have shared and released since I finished my dissertation on permaculture in 2020, I was still not yet able to publish, or event present in a conference, the model my research team created to quantify the connections identified in a permaculture design. It's called the Permaculture Landscape Network-6 model or PLN-6 model. 

I was listening to a video interview of Geoff Lawton where he tried to explain what permaculture is about. He said, "It's more about the connections than the disciplines." This reminded me of the PLN-6 model. And I had that itching feeling that I had to do something with this. The model was supposed to be at the forefront of the dissertation--the main 'product.' But more opportunities came from the other components of the research such as the landscape ecology aspect, the use of drones, and the plant inventory. So I'm writing this blog to remind myself that this model needs to be published someday. Here's an excerpt from the manuscript (available for download here):

PLN-6 is a conceptual model based on actor-network theory, or ANT (Latour,1996). The model offers a simplified representation of permaculture design showing categories which are connected or related. Results showed that most permaculture landscapes have biotic components as the main hub (or actor). This represented how biodiversity and natural resources were valued in the design.

To create this model, we had to go on the ground and do farm and plant inventories, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to extract information on the existing connections in the design. We also used a drone to identify landscape and farm components. PLN-6 maps were created by GIS expert, Malvin Biguerras, and computer scientist, Jason Obrero.