The word "permaculture" was coined by internationally acclaimed Australian ecologist, Dr. Bill Mollison, as a contraction of "permanent" and "agriculture" to imply sustainable agriculture as the basis for permanence in culture:

Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of stable social order.

Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all it's forms. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions, rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolution's.

Permaculture design, teaching and project work has established itself over 70 countries throughout the world as a highly effective response to the planet's most pressing environmental problems. In that sense, permaculture has become a global grassroots environmental restoration movement, providing a positive, solutions-oriented approach to counter the destruction and degradation of the biosphere, the earth's life support systems.

As an integrated design system, permaculture draws on many related earth science disciplines and applies "whole system theory" to the functional design of ecologiocally sustainable living systems. The aim of permaculture design is to create habitats or living environments for humans, animals, and plants that thrive on community and biodiversity, and function in synergistic relation with the earth's natural systems.

The holistic and ecological approach to the design and development of human settlement takes into account structures, technologies, energy, natural resources, landscape, animal systems, plant systems, social and economic structures. Permaculture draws on traditional practices of earth stewardship from many cultures and periods in civilisation, and integrates this understanding with appropriate modern technologies to serve the environment and humankind.

-Thomas Mack, 1995.