This following piece was written by Roy Heesakkers, one of the participants on our 2025 Permaculture Design Course in Wales with SAWA Architecture. His reflections capture the depth, connection, and transformation many experienced during the 12 days we spent together. The photos throughout were taken by Harvey Gorst, whose eye for beauty and connection brings the course vividly to life.

On our yearly London-based Permaculture Design Course we’ve made it a tradition to spend one weekend away from the city. We had photographer Amy Behrens Clark join us to document some of our journey and asked a few of the participants about their experience learning about Permaculture.

For some time now, Social Landscapes has been developing the idea of a bike tour to raise awareness of these projects, tell the stories of the people behind them and get people thinking differently about city living.

When did it happen that time became a forward line? When did the idea of an inevitability of progress settle in the psyche of the western mind? When did we as human beings set ourselves apart, thinking that we are at the head of the parade? And how does all of that affect our relationship to place and planet? These are questions I have been asking myself for a while, questions I might never have the answers to.