Permaculture is a broad-based and holistic approach that has many applications to all aspects of life. At the heart of permaculture design and practice is a fundamental set of 'core values' or ethics which remain constant whatever a person's situation, whether they are creating systems for town planning or trade; whether the land they care for is only a window box or an entire forest.

Designed by David Holmgren, permaculture is based on three ethics: Care of the earth (because all living things have intrinsic worth); care of the people; and reinvest all surplus, whether it be information, money, or labor, to support the first two ethics.

• Earthcare - recognizing that the Earth is the source of all life (and is possibly itself a living entity- see Gaia theory) and that we recognize and respect that the Earth is our valuable home and we are a part of the Earth, not apart from it.

• Peoplecare - supporting and helping each other to change to ways of living that are not harming ourselves or the planet, and to develop healthy societies.

• Fairshare - ensuring that the Earth's limited resources are utilized in ways that are equitable and wise by placing limits on consumption.

Permaculture has come to mean more than just food sufficiency in the household. Self-reliance in food is meaningless unless people have access to land, information, and financial resources. So in recent years it has come to encompass appropriate legal and financial strategies, including strategies for land access, business structures, and regional self financing. This way it is a whole human system.

Nonviolence is a powerful tool for creating social change in our countries and around the world. When we work to remedy one issue, we affect all issues. The issues change in accordance with the political and social climate of our nation and world. Nonviolence is not only a method for social change, but a positive way of life that becomes a part of all of our personal relationships and everything we do in our homes, communities and political and business life. It is a permanent attitude that is reflected even in the choice and tone of words, in body language and way of thinking.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. defined six principles of nonviolence which were the heart of his philosophy of nonviolence. A commitment to these six principles is the key to making nonviolence a way of life in our personal relationships and in resolving conflicts, reconciling adversaries and creating social change at the community, national and international levels. He also identified the six steps of nonviolence as a methodology for applying the six principles in solving problems and resolving conflicts peacefully.