Earth Care
Protect living systems, soil, water and habitat before proposing disturbance.
Regenerative design compass
Read the land, then design with restraint.
TopoDesigner uses permaculture ethics and Holmgren's twelve principles as questions, not as automatic answers. Terrain evidence starts a conversation that still needs field observation, local knowledge and feedback over time.
The three ethics
The center of every design decision.
People Care
Make evidence understandable and design for the people who steward the place.
Fair Share
Return surplus, set limits and keep useful knowledge accessible.
David Holmgren's framework
Twelve principles to revisit as the site changes.
Observe and interact
Begin with site evidence and field observation before adding a design element.
Catch and store energy
Read water, sun, biomass and gravity as resources that can be retained.
Obtain a yield
Name the useful ecological, social or material return expected from each intervention.
Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
Record review notes, revisit assumptions and adapt when the site contradicts the plan.
Use and value renewable resources and services
Prefer biological work, passive energy and renewable flows where they fit the site.
Produce no waste
Treat cut, runoff, biomass and maintenance effort as resources to account for.
Design from patterns to details
Read slope, flow paths, sectors and zones before placing individual elements.
Integrate rather than segregate
Connect water, access, vegetation, structures and habitat so each supports the others.
Use small and slow solutions
Phase work, test assumptions and avoid treating an early terrain screen as certainty.
Use and value diversity
Plan for layered species, multiple functions and resilience across scenarios.
Use edges and value the marginal
Inspect boundaries, transitions, drainage margins and corridors as productive places.
Creatively use and respond to change
Compare phases and scenarios so the plan can evolve with climate, succession and feedback.
Design lineage
A practical learning layer, not a claim of authority.
The workspace draws on Bill Mollison and David Holmgren's whole-systems permaculture tradition, P.A. Yeomans' keyline attention to water and landform, and Geoff Lawton's practical emphasis on observation, sectors, zones and water before detail. Read the source traditions, test ideas locally and retain qualified advice for consequential land work.
Further reading: Permaculture Association: David Holmgren Principles and Permaculture Principles.