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8 forms of capital active hope adaptation agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples art arthritis austrian scythe UK autumn Autumn equinox award back garden back yard Be The Earth beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity biodynamics blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck celebrate Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular city farm clay pot clean air cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate collapse climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey communities community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas composting conference connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts creativity crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself Donella Meadows drought dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy earths cycles ecoculture ecological emergency economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir emergence endangered birds energy equinox Ethical Consumer ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming farms feedback feminine ferns festivals figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes grassroots green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing growing food guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedgerows hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Idler Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous indigenous knowledge indoor inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land land restoration landscape landscapes leaf mould leverage points life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact lunar Lush Cosmetics Lush Spring Prize macerations magazine Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust Māori Maramataka market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadow meadowsweet medicinal micro microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mow mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts oak woodland observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing Open Shell Farm orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns peat-free people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design Permaculture Magazine permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculture week permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pied flycatcher pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants politicians doing nothing pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles prize projects propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries re-green recipe recipes Red List reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture regenerative farming regenerative projects relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans Rupert Read sage Sahel salad salads salve Samhain Savitri Trust schools Scotland scotts pine scythe scything seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs silvopasture skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solstice solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Swayyam Sweet Bay Swift Street swifts syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation Transformative Adaptation trees upcycle urban urban farm urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic verges vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild flowers wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads winter solstice wisdom wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai zai pits zone 00 zoning

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope adaptation agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples art arthritis austrian scythe UK autumn Autumn equinox award back garden back yard Be The Earth beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity biodynamics blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck celebrate Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular city farm clay pot clean air cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate collapse climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey communities community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas composting conference connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts creativity crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself Donella Meadows drought dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy earths cycles ecoculture ecological emergency economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir emergence endangered birds energy equinox Ethical Consumer ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming farms feedback feminine ferns festivals figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes grassroots green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing growing food guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedgerows hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Idler Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous indigenous knowledge indoor inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land land restoration landscape landscapes leaf mould leverage points life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact lunar Lush Cosmetics Lush Spring Prize macerations magazine Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust Māori Maramataka market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadow meadowsweet medicinal micro microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mow mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts oak woodland observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing Open Shell Farm orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns peat-free people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design Permaculture Magazine permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculture week permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pied flycatcher pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants politicians doing nothing pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles prize projects propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries re-green recipe recipes Red List reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture regenerative farming regenerative projects relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans Rupert Read sage Sahel salad salads salve Samhain Savitri Trust schools Scotland scotts pine scythe scything seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs silvopasture skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solstice solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Swayyam Sweet Bay Swift Street swifts syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation Transformative Adaptation trees upcycle urban urban farm urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic verges vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild flowers wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads winter solstice wisdom wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai zai pits zone 00 zoning

How to Create Positive Change – Maddy Harland’s 2025 highlights

PM's Editor, Maddy Harland, shares her highlights of 2025, from increasing the population of pied flycatchers, to Permaculture magazine's furthering reach of positive change.

I’m sitting in a North Devon woodland in a small cabin, and the rain’s drumming on the roof of this little building and the stream is surging past because we’ve had a lot of rain.

Thinking back, what are my highlights for 2025? Well, I’ve got lots, but perhaps one or two big things for me was setting up a couple of years ago, a pied flycatcher monitoring programme, and when we started we just had one nest of this gorgeous little songbird that flies all the way from East Africa to breed in the eastern edges of the British Isles.

And this year, having put up more nest boxes and put them in two triangles, so three in a territory, meant that there was more room for the Pied flycatchers to breed, because the blue tits and the great tits come along and they take a lot of the best spots, the prime nesting places, because they’re native. And so by the time the pied flycatchers fly here all the way from Africa, there’s not much space left for them. Certainly not in the best, kind of situation in a little oak woodland. So, by adding extra boxes and putting them in the territory of particularly blue tits and great tits, you’ll get more opportunity for different species to breed because they’re territorial.

This year I was so thrilled that we had five nesting pairs (that we knew of) in the boxes. All of the young, which is between five or six fledglings actually fledged. So that added a significant increase to the population in, in the woodland.

Another of my highlights was another year of Permaculture magazine. So I’ve been doing this magazine since 1992, which is well over 30 years now. And over the years it’s really evolved and developed.

It’s gone from looking at purely, practical UK projects to having a global view of permaculture, publishing articles from all over the world, to launching the Permaculture Magazine Award, which we do with Lush Spring Prize biannually, to fund projects with very little access to to conventional funding sources. I feel like the vision of this magazine is really growing.

We’ve still got lovely articles about plants to grow, native gardening, regenerative agriculture, woodlands, natural building and renewable technology, all those essential practical strategies for building a very different world to the world that we currently have.

But I also feel that it has grown in vision. We’re seeing more deeply what the power of community is, how we can create projects and community groups and collaborative ways of working together as human beings in harmony, not in conflict.

We’ve been working on this subject way back since the 1990s. But I feel that the permaculture movement is really bearing fruit in this area.

It is a great privilege for me is to do this magazine with my team who, like me, like to meet people.

We don’t have big funders. We’re not great intellectuals. We basically listen to the pulse of all readers and all our subscribers and have an exchange of values and vision with them, as well as practical skills.

So those are, in essence, just a few of the marvellous things that have kept me going this year and help me to carry on my work.

I hope you have a great 2026. Maddy Harland, December 2025.

Each issue of Permaculture magazine offers tried-and-tested solutions, projects and pioneering ideas from the very best of the permaculture community. Every subscription comes with FREE access to all 30+ years of back issues.




Further Resources

About the Author

Maddy Harland is the co-founder and editor of Permaculture magazine and author of Fertile Edges – Regenerating the land, culture and hope.