Permacomputing is both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regenerativity in computer and network technology inspired by permaculture.

There are huge environmental and societal issues in today's computing, and permacomputing specifically wants to challenge them in the same way as permaculture has challenged industrial agriculture. With that said, permacomputing is an anti-capitalist political project. It is driven by several strands of anarchism, decoloniality, intersectional feminism, post-marxism, degrowth, ecologism.

Permacomputing is also a utopian ideal that needs a lot of rethinking, rebuilding and technical design work to put in practice.

Most importantly, there is no permacomputing kit to buy. See permacomputing as invitation to collectively and radically rethink computational culture. It is not a tech solution searching for a problem. You are free to start your own initiative and use the term permacomputing, however please make sure you understand the purpose and ethos of this project :)

• Have a look at the permacomputing wiki
• Read the principles

Fermentation is a method, a slow, interdependent process shaped by invisible collaborators. Like microbes that preserve and transform, our work ferments beneath the surface, unfolding, unfinished.

1. Fermentation starts spontaneously. Until the 19th century invention of industrial yeast, most ferments were based on ambient yeasts already present in the environment. When it comes to organising, there is no need for years of planning or institutional support to get a community started. We just need a little bit of initiative.

2. Fermentation is a multiplying process. A tiny bit of yeast, when fed properly, can take over a huge vat. A nourished community can develop and grow.

3. Fermentation has momentum. Once you get it going, all you have to do is keep the conditions right. Groups and collectives caring for the right conditions, a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere and a code of conduct for example, keep their momentum.

4. Fermentation can go dormant and be restarted. When energy levels temporarily dwindle, the group activity slows until a new impulse arrives.

5. Fermentation is symbiotic - aim for accessibility and intersectionality - connect with other groups and welcome people with related interests and politics, yet with varying backgrounds and perspectives.

Like a fermentation process, this guide invites interaction and transformation. Apply it in parts or as a whole, start where it feels right.

Don’t panic, organise!