Guide
Choosing a Permaculture Design Framework
Compare frameworks and choose a process that fits the people, place and purpose.
Read Choosing a Permaculture Design Framework →Methods for careful practice
Design Tools
Design tools help turn observation into usable evidence. This collection gathers methods and practical resources for reading a site, defining goals, choosing a process and documenting decisions without confusing the tool with the design itself.
27 published resources
Observation, Monitoring and Adaptive Design Tools
Select tools, learn and return
These twelve tools form a selectable, repeatable toolkit. They are not a checklist or a new compulsory framework.
An interconnected cycle links Observe, Record and Monitor, Experiment and Adapt, and Quantify and Decide, then returns to Observe Again. Designers may enter at any suitable point and move across groups.
Observe
Read the place and its change
- Biodiversity baseline
- Indicator species
- Transect survey
- Drone / aerial survey
Record and monitor
Make experience comparable
- Photo points
- Field journals
- Indicators and KPIs
- Community feedback
Experiment and adapt
Learn before wider commitment
- Safe-to-fail experiments
- Sprint planning
Quantify and decide
Test quantities and trade-offs
- Water budget / catchment
- Decision matrix
↺ Observe againReturn, cross-connect or enter wherever the design question requires.
Foundations and field methods
Field method
Site Observation, Sector and Zone Analysis
Read flows, relationships and use patterns before deciding what to change.
Read Site Observation, Sector and Zone Analysis →Inventory
PASTE Site Inventory
Record Plants, Animals, Structures, Tools and Events as a grounded site inventory.
Read PASTE Site Inventory →Field scale
DAFOR Abundance Scale
Use a simple abundance scale to make ecological observation more consistent and comparable.
Read DAFOR Abundance Scale →Analysis method
Needs and Yields Analysis
Connect elements, expose hidden demands and test whether useful outputs can meet real needs.
Read Needs and Yields Analysis →Goal-setting
SMARTER Goals for Permaculture Design
Create commitments that are specific enough to act on and open enough to evaluate and revise.
Read SMARTER Goals for Permaculture Design →Reference
SMARTER Goals Reference
A concise reference for applying each part of the SMARTER approach.
Read SMARTER Goals Reference →Worksheet
SMARTER Goals Worksheet
A practical worksheet for drafting and reviewing a goal.
Read SMARTER Goals Worksheet →Analysis, Decision-Making and Prioritisation
Analysis method
SWOC and SWOT Analysis
Use strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges or threats to widen enquiry without mistaking a four-box prompt for a complete design.
Read SWOC and SWOT Analysis →Parallel-thinking method
Six Thinking Hats
Examine information, feeling, risk, value, possibility and process without turning every difference into an argument.
Read Six Thinking Hats →Decision prompt
PMI and PNI Decision Analysis
Examine pluses, minuses and interesting points while keeping the local PNI variant distinct from de Bono’s documented PMI method.
Read PMI and PNI Decision Analysis →Relationship analysis
Input-Output Analysis
Trace what an element needs, what it produces and where flows create useful connections, hidden work, waste or risk.
Read Input-Output Analysis →Layered analysis
Functional, Structural and Elemental Analysis
Examine what a system must do, how it is organised and which elements carry the work.
Read Functional, Structural and Elemental Analysis →Participation and responsibility
Stakeholder Analysis
Identify who affects or is affected by a design and make interests, influence, responsibilities and representation choices visible.
Read Stakeholder Analysis →Prioritisation method
Action Priority Matrix
Compare impact and effort while keeping duties, dependencies, uncertainty and affected interests outside the oversimplified grid.
Read Action Priority Matrix →Observation and Survey
Applied observation · 1 of 12
Biodiversity Baseline Survey
Create a repeatable ecological starting point before intervention without confusing a practitioner baseline with formal ecological assessment.
Read Biodiversity Baseline Survey →Applied observation · 2 of 12
Indicator Species Monitoring
Use selected organisms as cautious evidence about ecological conditions or change.
Read Indicator Species Monitoring →Applied observation · 3 of 12
Transect Walk and Transect Survey
Record how soil, water, vegetation, exposure and management change across a landscape.
Read Transect Walk and Transect Survey →Applied observation · 4 of 12
Drone and Aerial Site Survey
Detect aerial patterns, verify them on the ground and interpret them within legal, ethical and technical limits.
Read Drone and Aerial Site Survey →Monitoring and Evaluation
Applied monitoring · 5 of 12
Photo-Point Monitoring
Use repeat photography from documented positions to compare visible landscape change.
Read Photo-Point Monitoring →Applied monitoring · 6 of 12
Field Journalling for Permaculture Design
Separate observation, interpretation and decision in cumulative field records.
Read Field Journalling for Permaculture Design →Applied monitoring · 7 of 12
Ecological Indicators and KPIs
Translate goals into indicators, targets and repeatable measurement protocols.
Read Ecological Indicators and KPIs →Applied monitoring · 8 of 12
Community Feedback Loops
Use affected people’s experience as accountable evidence within iterative design decisions.
Read Community Feedback Loops →Experimentation and Adaptive Design
Adaptive design · 9 of 12
Safe-to-Fail Experiments
Learn through small, bounded and observable interventions whose failure is genuinely tolerable.
Read Safe-to-Fail Experiments →Adaptive design · 10 of 12
Sprint Planning for Adaptive Implementation
Use short planning and review cycles while retaining longer seasonal and dependency views.
Read Sprint Planning for Adaptive Implementation →Quantitative and Decision Tools
Quantitative design · 11 of 12
Water Budget, Catchment and Runoff Calculations
Quantify supply, demand, storage, timing, losses and safe overflow before selecting infrastructure.
Read Water Budget, Catchment and Runoff Calculations →Decision support · 12 of 12
Decision Matrix and Multi-Criteria Comparison
Compare alternatives against explicit criteria while keeping evidence, judgement and sensitivity visible.
Read Decision Matrix and Multi-Criteria Comparison →