How One Taiwanese Organization Trained Thousands in Permaculture Over 27 Years
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📰 The quick summary: Earth Passengers has spent 27 years pioneering permaculture education in Taiwan, training thousands of people through 34 design courses and proving that sustainable land practices can take root even in one of Asia’s most urbanized societies.
📈 One key stat: Taiwan has only 33% food self-sufficiency, which makes Earth Passengers’ work promoting urban agriculture and permaculture design across the island especially critical for building long-term resilience.
💬 One key quote: “Earth Passengers proves that persistent education can catalyze nationwide conversations about self-reliance, ecological restoration, and what it means to inhabit land sustainably in the 21st century.”
1️⃣ The big picture: Founded in 1997 by Hui-i Chiang and Peter Morehead, Earth Passengers has grown into Taiwan’s leading permaculture organization, turning a small mountain shack above Taipei into a living classroom and nationwide movement. After Morehead completed his Permaculture Design Certificate in Australia in 1999, the couple began integrating permaculture principles into environmental education at a time when the concept was virtually unknown in Taiwan. Over the following decades, they hosted 34 Permaculture Design Courses, translated and published four foundational permaculture books in Mandarin, and promoted urban agriculture across Taipei parks. Their quarter-hectare off-grid property in Taitung serves as a hands-on learning center, demonstrating everything from rainwater harvesting to natural building. In late 2024, Earth Passengers reached a major milestone by hosting the 15th International Permaculture Convergence, drawing hundreds of practitioners from around the world to southern Taiwan.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: After nearly three decades of persistent work, permaculture has gone from a virtually unknown concept in Taiwan to a nationally recognized framework for ecological education and urban food production. Publishing four foundational permaculture books in Mandarin has made this knowledge accessible to Chinese-speaking communities far beyond Taiwan, extending the impact into Hong Kong and mainland China. Hosting the 15th International Permaculture Convergence in 2024 placed Taiwan on the global map as a serious hub for regenerative design, while also weaving in Austronesian and Rukai indigenous ecological knowledge that enriches the broader permaculture movement. In a country where food self-sufficiency sits at just 33%, practical initiatives like sheet-mulching city parks and installing rainwater harvesting systems offer scalable, low-cost tools that ordinary urban residents can adopt. Earth Passengers shows that one determined organization can shift how an entire society thinks about land, food, and resilience over time.
3️⃣ What’s next: Earth Passengers continues to offer courses ranging from introductory permaculture design to advanced hands-on workshops covering solar cooking, water harvesting, soil remediation, and natural building. Their learning center in Taitung remains an active demonstration site, with ongoing implementation of new design features and visits from students and professionals alike. The integration of Austronesian and Rukai traditional ecological knowledge into their curriculum opens a promising path for future collaboration between indigenous communities and the broader permaculture network across the Asia-Pacific region.
Read the full story here: Happy Eco News – Earth Passengers Pioneers Permaculture Education in Taiwan Through Decades of Hands-On Practice
