Four days of fun and games, talks and chilled chit chats; and, most of all, a lot of dancing! Nordic Permaculture Festival 2024, which took place on Himmelbjerggården, in the first weekend of August, hosted so warmly by Aslaug, Poul and the rest of the team, was a lovely and convivial space. No fences, no security, just collective safety.

Next year it will be in Iceland, but there will also be a “Danish” permaculture festival next year. Watch this space! 🙂

There were talks from, just to mention a few, Nordic Permaculture Academy, Permakulturhaven Myrrhis, Iso-orvokkiniitty and then there was, last but certainly not least, the inimitable, splendid Virelai!

I contributed two workshops to the programme of Nordic Permaculture Festival 2024:

Permaculture and animism:
Permaculture and animism, apparently, share a number of aspects and insights about the world and the complex web of life that sustains the human habitat. So what is animism? How does it relate to magic, religion, philosophy and science? In this workshop we chat about these things and attempt coming closer to an understanding of the various ways in which human beings historically and today make meaning, build communities and maintain collectivity.
On this journey, the idea of shape shifting comes into light, as we contemplate a mindset, which values interconnected knowledge, ethical guidance, and holistic science, aiming to heal the rupture caused by extractive technologies and reconnect with the Earth in a meaningful and more-than-sustainable way.

Nordic Permaculture Festival 2024

Permaculture and the Art of Not Being Governed:
A convivial space for a semi-structured conversation – with room for interventions – featuring stories, ideas, and concepts from the past, present and future; from cave paintings to extra-terrestrial networks; from people’s knowledge to artificial intelligence: where do we come from and where are we going? What is neurological monoculture, or how do myth, magic, religion, philosophy and science differ and what do they share? What does it mean to be governed? What are agroecological tactics of state evasion?  What’s it got to do with the anthropocene?

These and other questions concerning the art of not being governed, and your own voice, will shape the conversation.


I could have taken more pictures, really, but it was just such a lovely time and, as a wise man once said to me, “..some things are better kept in the imagination…”.


See you next year, next time, anytime…

Oh, there had to be bios for the workshops – always an odd exercise with narcissistic leanings or rejections that can appear contrived and what not, like this inserted sentence – but here goes for the record:

The conversation is facilitated by John Martin Pedersen who has been exploring the art of not being governed and engaged with different knowledge systems (magic, religion, philosophy, science) across time and space since the 1990s – and did a PDC in 2000. Educated as a transdisciplinary philosopher in The School of Independent Studies he works as freelance/part-time researcher; and last year began designing an integrated, experimental hobby farming system, based on forest garden ideas and inspired by Amazonian food systems on a ramshackle farm with 2.8 hectares near Kolding.