Permaculture Research Institute

The Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) is an Australian-based organization founded by permaculture co-originator David Holmgren and Geoff Lawton in 2000, dedicated to promoting and developing permaculture as a global framework for sustainable land use and food production. Headquartered on a demonstration farm in Zaytuna Farm in New South Wales, the institute provides education, training, and research on permaculture design principles and their application to agriculture, community development, and ecological restoration. PRI is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading sources of permaculture education, offering permaculture design courses online and in-person that have trained thousands of practitioners across more than 100 countries. The institute operates a 66-hectare demonstration farm at Zaytuna that showcases integrated permaculture systems including food forests, water harvesting earthworks, diversified crop production, and sustainable land management. PRI publishes extensively on permaculture topics through its website, which receives millions of visitors annually, and supports a global network of permaculture projects and practitioners. The organization conducts practical research on topics including water catchment, soil regeneration, and food system resilience in both temperate and tropical environments. PRI also maintains a network of international partner projects working to apply permaculture principles in diverse cultural and ecological contexts, including development projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.