Permaculture is a practical concept applicable from a balcony to a farm, from the city to the wilderness, enabling us to establish productive environments providing our food, energy, shelter, material and non-material needs, as well as the social and economic infrastructures that will support them.

Permaculture encourages the individual to be resourceful and self reliant, to become a conscious part of the solution to the many problems which face us, both locally and globally.

This covers the whole range from the production of food, the design of our residential areas and management of natural environments, to the daily activities in which we invest our time, skills and money." ...  (Permaculture International Journal Magazine).

In simpler terms, "Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments." ...Bill Mollison - co-founder of Permaculture - Introduction to Permaculture Book.

"Permaculture is much more than Organic Gardening." ...David Holmgren - co-founder of Permaculture - Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability Book.

Other excerpts from David Holmgren's book include -

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE
Ethics are the moral principles that are used to guide action toward good and right outcomes and away from bad and wrong outcomes.

~ Care For The Earth
~ Care For The People
~ Set Limits To Consumption and Reproduction
~ Redistribute Surplus

PERMACULTURE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
(An Holistic Approach to Landscape Design)

1.       Observe and Interact
2.       Catch and Store Energy
3.       Obtain a Yield
4.       Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
5.       Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
6.       Produce No Waste
7.       Design from Patterns to Details
8.       Integrate Rather than Segregate
9.       Use Small and Slow Solutions
10.     Use and Value Diversity
11.     Use Edges and Value The Marginal
12.     Creatively Use and Respond to Change