4. Permaculture design operating principles

Because permaculture is an art and a way of being in the world, the design method it proposes does not define a method based on intangible rules or laws describing precisely what a permaculture space should be. It merely proposes general principles that need to be combined in order to thoughtfully engage and lead the process of ethically designing situated and singular human settlements. The next part of this article presents the twelve operational principles that D. Holmgren details in his 2002 book .