# Assessment of permaculture integration into gray and mainstream scientific literature in four languages. A review

Roberto Carlos Forte Taylor<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="3" /> Ⓒ · Osborne Grant Clark<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="3" /> · Julien Jean Malard-Adam<fnref n="2" />,<fnref n="3" />

Accepted: 6 March 2025

© The Author(s) 2025

## Abstract

Permaculture, often described as a grassroots movement, philosophy, or set of progressive agricultural practices, is considered to have significant potential to revitalize degraded land, improve the robustness of ecosystems, reduce energy consumption, and lower operating costs while effectively sequestering carbon. Despite its growing international popularity and practical benefits, the term *permaculture* remains notably isolated from mainstream scientific discourse, limiting its broader integration and impact. Literature reviews on this versatile set of agricultural practices are uncommon, and this isolation from established scientific literature significantly hampers the potential of permaculture to influence and transform contemporary agricultural systems toward enhanced sustainability. Addressing this gap, this study compiles the most comprehensive collection of white and gray literature related to permaculture to date, analyzing 975 publications across four languages—English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French—through bibliometric analysis, qualitative content analysis, H-index, and citation counts. The findings reveal that permaculture retains a dynamic presence within academic discussions, being increasingly associated with critical concepts such as design, agriculture, and ecology. Notably, the use of *permaculture* in peer-reviewed technical publications has surged, particularly in recent study periods, marking a significant shift towards recognizing its value in mainstream scientific literature. This review aims to:

1. Gather white and gray literature related to the term *permaculture* across four languages.

2. Identify terms most commonly associated with permaculture using computational tools.

3. Describe the evolution of the term *permaculture* over time.

4. Examine whether the term *permaculture* is predominantly associated with philosophical or scientific perspectives in peer-reviewed literature.

5. Assess the increasing recognition of permaculture as a topic of interest in English peer-reviewed literature.

**Keywords** Bibliometric analysis · Permaculture · Qualitative content analysis · Semantic shift · Word cloud

## Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Historical background

1.2 Definition and principles

1.3 Research question and objectives

2. Materials and Methods

3. Results

3.1 Origins of the term permaculture (1900 - 1980)

3.2 Literature distribution by language and document type

3.3 Semantic shift of the term permaculture and associated terms over time

3.4 Changes in the nature of peer-reviewed permaculture literature in four languages

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

<footnote>Roberto Carlos Forte Taylor
roberto.fortetaylor@mail.mcgill.ca</footnote>

<footnote n="1">¹ Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill
University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue,
QC H9X 3V9, Canada</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² G-Eau, Institut de recherche pour le développement
(IRD), University of Montpellier, 911 Avenue Agropolis,
34000 Montpellier, France</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India</footnote>
3.5 An analysis of how the term permaculture is received in peer-reviewed English literature

4. Discussion

4.1 Evolution of the term permaculture

4.2 The term permaculture continues to be used more frequently in peer-reviewed technical literature

4.3 Research and publications in peer-reviewed journals have embraced the term permaculture in recent decades

5. Limitations of the Study

6. Conclusion

7. Author Declarations

References

# 1 Introduction

Each year, 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost worldwide (UNCCD 2017). More than 1.3 billion people, mostly in developing countries, live in areas with degraded agricultural lands and therefore have limited opportunities for economic growth (UNCCD 2017). Anthropogenic activities continue to degrade soils, adversely affecting human welfare, accelerating habitat loss for other species, and intensifying the impacts of climate change. In light of these challenges, experts emphasize the need to adopt innovative farming systems that foster sustainable, resilient, and self-sustaining ecosystems. For instance, permaculture practitioners and researchers, including Hathaway (2015), Krebs and Bach, (2018), and Toensmeier (2016), advocate for the application of permaculture principles to revitalize soil health and boost agricultural productivity. By fostering diverse plant communities, optimizing water management, and integrating animals to strengthen ecosystem vitality, degraded agricultural regions worldwide can recover productivity and restore ecological balance. This approach not only reverses soil degradation but also fortifies food security and fosters economically sustainable growth, all within an eco-friendly framework.

Agrifood systems employ 1.23 billion people worldwide, and about 3.83 billion people depend on agrifood systems for their livelihood (Porciello et al. 2024). Over the past century, the sector has involved remarkable transformations in technology, yield, and production (Mazoyer and Roudart 2006). A substantial portion of these transformative changes involve the adoption of industrial agricultural practices, defined as large-scale, energy-intensive, highly mechanized production of monoculture crops for commodity markets that are heavily dependent on chemical pesticides, mineral fertilizers, and irrigation for production (Moersdorf et al. 2024; Shanahan 2022; Woodhouse 2010). Although agricultural production has increased significantly worldwide, many researchers

suggest that the sustainability and efficiency of resource use in general have not increased proportionally (Badgley et al. 2007; Méndez et al. 2013; Reganold and Wachter 2016). According to Teague (2015), we can change current agricultural systems so that their negative effects on humans and natural resources can be reduced, while also meeting current and future food demands.

While industrial agriculture is highly productive, it can have detrimental effects on the environment, including soil degradation. Several alternative agricultural systems have been proposed as a means of reducing the problems associated with industrial agriculture. Many of these farming systems can be classified as agroecological (Ferguson and Lovell 2014; Gallardo-López et al. 2018; Wezel et al. 2009). Méndez et al. (2013) described an agroecological approach as one that is transdisciplinary, participatory, and action-oriented. Gallardo-López et al. (2018) wrote that agroecology is primarily applied at the level of farming systems, then at the regional level, then at the level of agroecosystems, and finally at the level of agri-food systems. One prevalent agroecological farming system is organic agriculture, but other farming systems, such as biointensive farming, biodynamic farming, and permaculture, are also regarded as part of the agroecological framework (Gallardo-López et al. 2018). Permaculture has been widely disseminated and is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world (Ferguson and Lovell 2014). Hathaway (2016) identifies permaculture as an ecological strategy for the design and management of agricultural systems that incorporates an ethical framework and guiding principles. It is a holistic approach that allows the design of diverse, sustainable production systems suited to a wide variety of cultural and ecological contexts (Hathaway 2016). Proponents of permaculture claim that this farming system can meet human needs for healthy and nutritious food, while generating less CO2 emissions than industrial agriculture and sequestering more carbon from the atmosphere by restoring degraded soil (Toensmeier 2016). Furthermore, they claim that permaculture practices are less energy intensive than industrialized agricultural practices (Conrad 2010), promote a closed nutrient cycle (Altieri 1989; Conrad 2014), and significantly reduce the use of pesticides, mineral fertilizers, and irrigation water (Akhtar et al. 2016; Altieri 1998; Bhandari and Bista 2019; Hathaway 2016). Despite its widespread popularity, Ferguson and Lovell (2014) argue that permaculture studies remain largely disconnected from mainstream scientific research.

Farmers who aspire to change from industrial agriculture to permaculture face a complex project. If adopted as a broader social initiative, the transition away from industrial agricultural production toward permaculture would require the combined efforts of scientific institutions and

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
international communities of producers. Some researchers argue that such a transition should involve collaboration with communities of traditional producers, so that agricultural practices refined over millennia may be leveraged to develop a form of modern agriculture that is less harmful to the environment (Ferguson and Lovell 2014). Figure 1 illustrates permaculture designs developed for tropical regions. Permaculture fundamentals, such as zones, are illustrated on the left. This logic seeks to maximize the use of energy and resources by placing crops and processes (e.g. orchards) that require more maintenance near zone 0 (house), while those that require less maintenance (e.g. fruit forest) or are conservation zones are situated further away from the zero point. The design on the left also integrates Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing, which is a practice that integrates herbivorous animals into the permaculture system to produce numerous benefits, including diversifying product supply, accelerating soil regeneration, and improving carbon sequestration, among others. A permaculture design with a commercial approach can be seen on the right. It is based on the principles of permaculture and bio-intensive agriculture. As part of this holistic system design, the project is divided into zones. In general, the farther away from zone 0 (office and recycling collection center), the less resources and energy are required. A number of permaculture practices have also been incorporated, including windbreaks, fire barriers, and pollinator-attracting plants. Using Jeavons' (1982) crop percentage distribution ratio with a few minor modifications, we designed an agricultural system where 44% of the land was allocated to the orchard, 32% to high carbon and high calorie crops, and 24% to high calorie tubers (Jeavons 1982).

**1.1 Historical background**

The term *permaculture* was coined in the 1970 s by Bill
Mollison and David Holmgren, who were working in

Tasmania, Australia (Tortorello 2011). The purported ante-
cedents of permaculture vary according to author. Holmgren
believed that the origins of permaculture were found in the
environmentalist counterculture that arose during the 1970
s (Collins 2010). Events such as the publication of the study
*Limits to Growth* by (Meadows et al. 1972), protests over the
flooding of Lake Pedder, Tasmania, in 1972, and the 1973 oil
crisis led to a paradigm shift in the way that people thought
about the environment (Cohen 2018). During this period,
current ideas about sustainability were also developed as part
of the resurgent interest in intentional communities, organic
agriculture, green architecture, and a self-reliant lifestyle
(Collins 2010). Smith (2012), however, traces the antecedents
of permaculture further back to the Garden City movement
of the late 1800 s, Russell J. Smith's (1929) classic book *Tree
Crops*, and later influences such as Carson (1962).

Permaculture, as conceptualized by Krebs and Bach (2018), is fundamentally a system for agro-ecological design. It is grounded in design principles and serves as a blueprint for mimicking and optimizing ecosystems. Other authors describe permaculture as a social movement organized around the nexus between permanent agriculture and permanent culture (Chakroun 2019). In accordance with Chakroun (2019), permaculture is not so much a method of farming as it is a framework for designing and implementing more sustainable socio-agricultural systems. Permaculture is viewed by some as a way to achieve a balance between the need for agricultural production and the principles of ethics and the protection of the environment (Bellacasa 2010; Brain and Thomas 2013). Meanwhile, Mollison describes it as the set of three fundamental ethical principles: 1) care for the land, 2) care for people, and 3) fair share (limiting population and consumption) (Akhtar 2016). Both humans and the environment can meet their essential needs through the maintenance and regeneration of healthy ecosystems, while sharing surpluses and protecting future generations'well-being.

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 1** Examples of permaculture designs for the tropics by Roberto Forte: (a) A 3500 m² farm in rural Panama; (b) Intercropping system of annual and perennial plants, based on permaculture principles, in Punta Chame, Panama. Photo credit: 2025 Roberto Carlos Forte Taylor.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>
Permaculture is considered by other authors, such as Krebs and Bach (2018), to be a more focused, technical practice; that is, an integral system for the design, implementation, and maintenance of resilient agroecological systems, which was developed in response to widespread concern about environmental degradation. As such, permaculture balances the necessity for agricultural production with principles of ethics and environmental well-being (Belacasa 2010; Brain and Thomas 2013). Table 1 provides an overview of the early definitions of permaculture proposed by Mollison and Holmgren, highlighting their emphasis on sustainable design principles and the integration of human and natural systems.

## 1.2 Definition and principles

As we examine the early definitions of permaculture proposed by its founders, Mollison and Holmgren, we can infer their objective was to provide a design framework that mimicked the solutions provided by nature for the benefit of society. Holmgren and Mollison both provide insight into what they perceive to be the pressing needs of society, such as food, energy, fiber, and shelter. As a result of these early definitions of permaculture, they generally tend to involve a more technological, engineering, and ecological perspective, whereby permaculture is viewed as a means or tool to achieve a specific goal for the benefit of society. These definitions are quite in accordance with what we understand by ecological engineering today: "the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both" (Mitsch 1996). Both Mollison and Holmgren proposed in their early work that society should be integrated with landscapes and that the organization of local communities should be central to their design framework. Mollison takes it even further when he proposes a definition for this design framework. The initial permaculture definitions do not incorporate philosophical considerations. When Mollison outlines the ethics of permaculture—caring for the land, caring for people, and fair

sharing—the philosophical aspects of permaculture become apparent (Mollison 1988).

The principles of permaculture as articulated by Holmgren (2013) are paraphrased in Table 2. Similar to what was discussed in the previous paragraph about the initial definitions of the permaculture concept, Holmgren's principles tend to focus on the technical rather than the philosophical. It is in them that Holmgren makes reference to the importance of observation of nature and its ecosystems, design, self-regulation and functions of systems, energy flows, diversity, and a number of other considerations. Again, they are proposed as a means of achieving the social objective of providing abundant food, fiber, and energy.

## 1.3 Research question and objectives

Despite permaculture's high international public profile, few systematic literature reviews on the term and its associated concepts have been published in scientific journals. With a quick search of Scopus and Web of Science using the terms *permaculture* and *review*, there are fewer than 65 results for each database. The only literature review that we were able to identify as specifically addressing permaculture as a concept, practice, or movement is Ferguson and Lovell's (2014). Ferguson and Lovell (2014) carried out one of the most recent attempts, focusing on the potential contribution that this practice could have in the agroecological transition, its different strategies, and its potential as a grassroots movement.

However, a literature review focused on the semantic shift and associated concepts through time has not been carried out. For Ferguson and Lovell (2014), one of the barriers limiting permaculture's potential is its separation from the scientific community. This research is an exploration of the literature related to the term *permaculture* and related concepts. It examines whether the use of the term has moved from a philosophical, ethical, and social context to a technical one, or vice versa. Lastly, we examine whether the term *permaculture* has established itself over time as a scientific topic.

<table><caption>**Table 1.** Some early definitions of permaculture proposed by Mollison and Holmgren.</caption><thead><tr><td>Author and Year</td><td>Definition</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Mollison (1988)</td><td>Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.</td></tr><tr><td>Holmgren (2013)</td><td>Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which they organize themselves are central to permaculture.</td></tr><tr><td>Mollison (1988)</td><td>Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms.</td></tr></tbody></table>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>
<table><caption>**Table 2.** List of permaculture principles adapted from Holmgren (2013).</caption><thead><tr><th>Perspective of Elements</th><th>Principles</th><th>General description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="5">Bottom - Up</td><td>Observe and interact</td><td>Careful observation and thoughtful interaction provide design inspiration and patterns. Continuous and reciprocal interaction with the land and its ecosystems is crucial.</td></tr><tr><td>Catch and store energy</td><td>Capture local flows of renewable and non-renewable forms of energy (sun, wind, runoff water flows, and fossil fuels, amongst others).</td></tr><tr><td>Obtain good yields</td><td>Elements that generate good and immediate yields will proliferate. Systems that obtain a yield and use it effectively tend to prevail over alternatives.</td></tr><tr><td>Apply self-regulation and accept feedback</td><td>By designing self-regulated systems, the work involved in harsh corrective management can be reduced significantly.</td></tr><tr><td>Use and value renewable resources and services</td><td>Permaculture design should aim to make the best use of renewable natural resources to manage and maintain yields.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5">Top - Down</td><td>Produce no waste</td><td>There is waste or pollution when an output of one component of a system cannot be utilized productively by another component of the system.</td></tr><tr><td>Design from patterns to details</td><td>Complex systems that work in nature tend to evolve from simple ones that work. Finding the most appropriate pattern for the design in question is more important than understanding all the details of each component in a system.</td></tr><tr><td>Integrate rather than segregate</td><td>In self-regulating design, elements should be placed in such a way that each serves the needs and accepts the products of other elements.</td></tr><tr><td>Use slow and small solutions</td><td>Systems should be designed to perform functions at the smallest scale that is practical and energy-efficient for that function.</td></tr><tr><td>Use and value diversity</td><td>Diversity is a result of the balance and tension in natural environments between variety and possibility on one hand and productivity and power on the other.</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Use edges and value the marginal</td><td>Value and contribution of the edges, as well as marginal aspects, should be recognized and conserved because the expansion of these aspects could increase productivity and system stability.</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Creatively use and respond to change</td><td>Change should be deliberately and cooperatively included in the design. The design should be capable of responding or adapting to large-scale system changes that are beyond control or influence.</td></tr></tbody></table>

To answer these questions, we propose the following objectives:

(1) Gather white and gray literature related to the term *permaculture* in four different languages.

(2) Use computational tools to identify the terms most commonly associated with permaculture.

(3) Describe how the term *permaculture* has evolved over time.

(4) Determine whether the term *permaculture* is mostly associated with philosophical or scientific perspectives in the peer-reviewed literature.

(5) Examine whether over time, the term *permaculture* has gradually gained recognition as a topic of interest in English peer-reviewed literature.

The publication is organized as follows: Section 1 provides a historical background on the development of permaculture, including its definitions, principles, and early

implications for ecological engineering. Section 2 outlines the methodology, detailing the bibliometric and qualitative content analyses employed to examine the permaculture literature. Section 3 presents the results, highlighting the evolution of the term 'permaculture.' Its growing incorporation into academic discourse, and its associated concepts. Section 4 discusses the implications of these findings for sustainable agricultural practices and scientific discourse. Finally, Section 5 concludes with a summary of the study's contributions and recommendations for future research.

## 2 Materials and methods

We used internet search engines and literature databases for this systematic literature review. A range of disciplines was represented by a broad selection of journals. The search engines and databases included Scopus (27,950)

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /></figure>
peer-reviewed journals supporting over 200 disciplines), Web of Science (over 21,000 peer-reviewed journals spanning more than 250 disciplines), McGill Library Catalog (a collection of millions of records), CAB Direct (more than 10 million international research records covering agriculture, environment, and applied life sciences), and Google Scholar (over 100 million scholarly documents spanning hundreds of disciplines), among other sources.

It is important to note that peer-reviewed articles and gray literature complement each other. Articles that are peer-reviewed undergo rigorous scrutiny before they are accepted for publication, ensuring a high level of credibility and reliability. Gray literature, on the other hand, includes papers that are not published or peer-reviewed, such as government reports, theses and dissertations, which may offer perspectives that are not readily available in peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed articles provide rigor and reliability, whereas gray literature can provide broader and deeper coverage of a topic. When conducting a literature review, it is beneficial to combine peer-reviewed articles with gray literature in order to ensure that the review is comprehensive and balanced. The process allows for a broader range of perspectives and conclusions, mitigates publication bias, and enables a more nuanced understanding of the subject at hand.

It is therefore important to emphasize that, in the systematic literature review we present, some sources have a greater influence on the analyses than others. According to Figure 2, peer-reviewed articles account for 44% of English literature, whereas peer-reviewed articles account for 37% of French literature. However, out of the Portuguese and Spanish literature sets, theses and dissertations are most commonly found during searches, at 50% and 62% respectively.

In order to respond to the first objective of this research (Gather white and gray literature related to the term *permaculture* in four different languages), we adapted a

series of methodologies previously used in the generation of similar systematic literature reviews (Ferguson and Lovell 2014; Guitart et al. 2012; Peter et al. 2019; Wezel et al. 2009; Wezel and Soldat 2009). We applied these to the existing body of literature (1900 - 2023) related to the term *permaculture*. As we developed our search protocol, we encountered permaculture practitioners who linked permaculture with agriculture, holistic systems thinking, and social and ethical issues. During this analysis, we believe it is critical to analyze the origin of the term *permaculture*, to determine whether this collection of practices had already been promoted prior to its coining or conception. Accordingly, we proposed the search terms "permaculture", "permanent agriculture", and "permanent culture" as initial search terms. It is critically important for practitioners, farmers in transition, communities, decision-makers, and policy developers to have a solid understanding of the technical aspects, ideas, arguments, and concepts related to permaculture in order to effectively implement it. As part of these analyses, we reviewed a body of literature comprising 975 publications, including white and gray literature in four languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. Ferguson and Lovell (2014) report that queries to various Google Scholar language localizations for the term "permaculture" yielded primarily English-language literature. English results accounted for 59% of a total of 7,190 search results (Ferguson and Lovell 2014). In addition to English, the following languages strongly contribute to permaculture-related literature in descending order: Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French. To ensure a representative sample of our study, we selected English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French from the five most dominant languages identified by Ferguson and Lovell (2014). Inclusion of a diversity of languages in literature reviews is important to avoid overlooking important parts of the global scientific discourse (Malard-Adam 2023).

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 2** The percentage breakdown of the documents analyzed by type and language</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>
<table><caption>**Table 3.** The initial result of searches in several databases and four languages (English, Portuguese, Spanish and French)</caption><thead><tr><th>Language</th><th>Navigator/Database</th><th>Search terms</th><th>No. of queries</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="7">English</td><td rowspan="2">Google Scholar</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>1510</td></tr><tr><td>Permanent agriculture</td><td>141</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Scopus</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>433</td></tr><tr><td>Permanent agriculture</td><td>88</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Web of Science</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>363</td></tr><tr><td>Permanent agriculture</td><td>63</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4">CATIE – Cab Direct</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>Permanent agriculture</td><td>15</td></tr><tr><td>Permaculture</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura permanente</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7">Spanish</td><td rowspan="2">Google Scholar</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>607</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura permanente</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">SciELO</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Agriculture permanente</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Portuguese</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura permanente</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7">French</td><td rowspan="2">Google Scholar</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>227</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura permanente</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Archives HAL</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>54</td></tr><tr><td>Agriculture permanente</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Érudit</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td>Agriculture permanente</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Google Scholar</td><td>Permaculture</td><td>127</td></tr><tr><td>Agriculture permanente</td><td>28</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"></td><td>3777</td></tr></tbody></table>

After conducting initial searches using the term"permanent culture"in databases such as Web of Science and Scopus, we discovered that the term was mostly associated with studies relating to the field of microbiology and the application of techniques for propagating microorganisms in growth medium. The search for literature was therefore limited to the terms"permaculture"and"permanent agriculture"and their respective translations in Portuguese, Spanish, and French. We performed searches in databases such as Web of Science (WOS), Google Scholar, Scopus, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center/Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), SciELO, Érudit, Archives HAL, and GS. Searches in Google Scholar for the four languages were limited to publications with the term "permaculture" in the title. There are two search options available on Google Scholar: 1)"anywhere in the article"and 2)"in the title of the article."With the option"in the title of the article,"the analysis was restricted to articles that explicitly addressed permaculture, excluding articles that may contain the term in some parts, but have nothing to do with the subject matter. For WOS, Scopus, SciELO, Érudit, Archives HAL, CATIE, and GS, we included only publications whose title and keywords contained the terms"permaculture"and"perm

anent agriculture". Searches were conducted in the different databases until November 2023.

Initial searches conducted on Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, Érudit, Archives HAL, GS, and CATIE yielded a total of 3,777 references. Of these, 2,659 were in English, 243 in Portuguese, 249 in French, and 626 in Spanish, as detailed in Table 3. It is imperative to note that these totals represent the entirety of the references returned by the search engines. This is without correcting for repetitions between databases or broken links. In order to complete our analysis, we conducted a thorough review and cleaning of the search results obtained, as many of them contained broken, duplicate, or inaccessible links from which the minimal information necessary for the analysis was not available (such as author information, keywords, and abstract). In the case of books, only those that included a digital file or online version of the book where the title, author(s) and introduction could be found were included.

After thoroughly reviewing our data, we verified the sources returned by the search string"permanent agriculture"in more detail. All of this was done with the intention of excluding sources that make references to conventional agricultural practices, or to shifting cultivation versus permanent systems of conventional agriculture, since

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>
they are in no way related to permaculture. For the purposes
of the subsequent analysis, the following nine sources were
removed from the data set: (Bouwman 1989; Clark 1928;
Gill 1962; Hopkins 1905, 1906; Israelsen 1943; Noble 2000;
Puginier 1999; Thorne and Anderson 1942; Tugwell 1929).
However, we retained the sources generated using the search
string"permanent agriculture"that refer to practices or prin-
ciples endorsed by permaculture. These include perennial
crops, intercropping, native species integration, crop rota-
tion, among others. The following ten sources were included
in the analysis: (Akabane et al. 2017; Clark 1928; Eppig
2017; Molnar 2013; Paull 2006, 2011; Sati 2020; Suryatna
and McIntosh 1982; Tower 1911). The initial set of literature
sources included 984, but after eliminating those that did
not mention the term *permaculture* or did not pertain to its
principles and practices, we were left with 975.

The second objective (Use computational tools to iden-
tify the terms most commonly associated with permacul-
ture) was achieved by using the four complete language data
sets and analyzing them separately using a computational
tool, ATLAS TI. The software was implemented in order to
identify, quantify, and visually represent the most significant
terms found in the titles of the analyzed literature as well as
keywords (in the case of academic or scientific documents).
ATLAS TI provides Word Cloud and Word List tools for
this purpose. We divided the data into five periods in order
to analyze the results of this research. Except for the period
between 1900 and 1980, each period consists of a decade.

As a means of achieving objective three (Describe how
the term *permaculture* has evolved over time), we created
an Excel table that listed the terms that repeated most fre-
quently during each period of time. Considering that we did
not reach 15 terms that repeated at least once in some peri-
ods, we chose 15 as the cutoff for our analysis. As a final
step, color coding was used to highlight the terms that had
appeared in at least three periods.

We responded to objective number four (Determine
whether the term *permaculture* is mostly associated with
philosophical or scientific perspectives in the peer-reviewed
literature) by categorizing only peer-reviewed publications
published in the four languages. They were categorized into
two main areas: those with a scientific/technical focus (engi-
neering, natural sciences, finance, economy, agriculture,
technology, ecology, environment, and others) and those
with a philosophical emphasis (philosophy, religion, dance,
art, politics, law, and social sciences). Consequently, an
objective methodology was implemented across all four lan-
guages, as scientific journals and databases, such as WOS,
Scopus, McGill Catalog, and other widely recognized data-
bases, methodically and carefully classified these documents
according to their research areas and fields.

During the process of categorizing the English data-
set, information was gathered from databases that are life

sciences-oriented, such as WOS and SCOPUS, as well as
databases that are more sociologically oriented, such as Age-
Line (EBSCO), Social Work Abstracts (OVID), and Social
Sciences Citation Index (SSCI, Web of Science). A total of
261 scientific publications were categorized according to
their emphasis. Through WOS, we were able to categorize
141 publications. In WOS, the categorization was carried
out by taking as a reference the"Research Areas"combined
with the"Web of Science Categories"provided by the tool.
At SCOPUS we were able to categorize 24 references using
the"SciVal Topic Prominence", which according to the
tool, represents"unique areas of research."It was not pos-
sible to classify the other 96 references through either WOS
or Scopus. Therefore, we implemented a third and fourth
method. The third method categorized publications based
on keywords obtained from the digital versions of the pub-
lications or through the McGill Library Catalogue. Through
this method, we were able to categorize another 33 refer-
ences. Finally, the remaining 63 references were categorized
based on the journal"Aim and Scope"or using the"Home or
About"section for those who did not specify aim or scope.

The classification of the datasets in other languages
was more challenging because we were not able to iden-
tify scientific databases or search engines that group and
categorize publications by research area. In order to ana-
lyze the French language dataset, two methodologies were
employed. As a first step, we relied on HAL specifically in
the"Domain"section in order to classify a total of 24 publi-
cations. In addition, 18 other publications were categorized
based on the abstract, title, and keywords used to describe
the study's intent. The remaining five could not be classi-
fied. As for Spanish (16) and Portuguese (40) publications,
all were classified using the abstract, title, and keywords as
indications of the study's intent.

To address objective number five (Determine whether the
term *permaculture* remains relevant in the peer-reviewed
literature) of this research work, 261 scientific publications
in English were reviewed. In order to conduct this analysis,
we selected only the highly recognized databases Scopus
and WOS. The limitation arises from the fact that there are
no structured and organized databases or scientific search
engines that enable researchers to download data on citations
and H-indexes by authors in the other three languages. This
analysis excluded self-citations from the number of citations
considered. The analysis was limited to references that pre-
sented at least one citation. A list of 20 publications was
compiled that could be accessed either through Scopus or
WOS. To avoid the ambiguity inherent in the citation count
indicator, we proposed combining it with the H-index. Cita-
tion counts and H-indexes are widely employed to evaluate
the impact of authors, research groups, and scientific jour-
nals across a wide range of disciplines (Caulley et al. 2020;
Hassan et al. 2020; King 1911; Kreinovich et al. 2021). We

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>
used the H-index to summarize citation frequency rather than as a measure of scientific quality or success. Hirsch (2005) proposed the H-index as a research performance indicator for evaluating individual research outputs (micro level). The H-index, however, has been applied by researchers such as Van Raan (2006) to evaluate university research groups (meso level) (Bornmann and Daniel 2007). Hirsch (2005) states that "A scientist has index h if h of his or her Np papers have at least h citations each, and the other (Np - h) papers have fewer or equal citations than h". In contrast to other indices (for example, the total number of papers, the total number of citations, or citations per paper), the H-index is considered to provide a stronger indication of the citation footprint of a scientist's cumulative research contributions (Bornmann and Daniel 2007; Hirsch 2005). The H-index has been chosen in this analysis as it serves as a means of identifying the most influential researchers in the permaculture field, rather than evaluating the quality of their publications or their career trajectory. We recognize the limitations of the indicators themselves, as discussed by other authors (Bornmann and Daniel 2007; Hirsch and Buela-Casal 2014; Van Raan Anthony 2006). However, the h-index continues to be recognized as a reliable and robust indicator of scholarly achievement, making it a valuable tool for assessing the productivity and impact of researchers, research groups, journals, and publishers (Shah and Jawaid 2023).

# 3 Results

## 3.1 Origins of the term permaculture (1900 - 1980)

According to Web of Science, the term *permanent agriculture* was used for the first time in 1910 in the book *Soil Fertility and Permanent Agriculture* by Cyril G. Hopkins. The book was published by *Boston and New York: Ginn and Company*. Two years later, the term appeared in the book *Farmers of Forty Centuries*, by F.H. King (1911). In Scopus, the first appearance of the term dates back to 1929 in the journal article "*Farm Relief and a Permanent Agriculture*" by R. G. Tugwell. The article was published by *Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science*. Later on, the term *permanent agriculture* appears in the peer-reviewed publication "The maintenance of soil organic matter under continuous cultivation at Samaru, Nigeria" by Jones, M.J. (1971). The article was published in *The Journal of Agricultural Science*. Interestingly, the term *permanent agriculture* was linked to the potential application and negative effects of continuous conventional practices of agriculture in savannahs in Africa where subsistence agriculture was traditionally practiced. The term *permanent agriculture*, however, has been associated with soil conservation practices such as the application of green manure and human/animal manure, as well as the

adoption of practices such as composting, multiple cropping, and the integration of perennial plants into orchards, including legumes (King 1911). Moreover, in *Soil Deterioration and the Growing World Demand for Food* (Brink et al. 1977) the term is used to propose alternative forms of agriculture in the United States as a way to combat the degradation of agricultural soils resulting from conventional agricultural practices. In Web of Science, the term *permaculture* appears for the first time linked to a peer-reviewed publication in the article "Permaculture - Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent Agriculture" published in *Ecologist* (Strange 1983).

## 3.2 Literature distribution by language and document type

Some scientists have claimed that, despite the high public profile, international distribution, and unique approach of permaculture to system design, the concept remains isolated from scientific research (Ferguson and Lovell 2014; Krebs and Bach 2018). We implemented the search protocol described above to collect and pre-screen the bibliography for analysis. Table 4 illustrates the number of documents (594 English, 175 Portuguese, 127 French, and 79 Spanish) analyzed in the four different languages after eliminating duplicates and false results. Each reference in the bibliography was identified as a peer-reviewed journal article, book, thesis, conference proceeding, or other publication form. Each of the citations extracted from the different databases was thoroughly verified, especially those obtained from Google Scholar, to effectively classify and differentiate peer-reviewed publications from the grey literature.

An overview of the distribution of documents by language and group, as well as their respective percentages within each language, can be found in Figure 2. This is intended to facilitate the reader's understanding of the influence that the number of documents in English may have in comparison to the other three languages and its implications for the comparative analyses developed throughout the study.

An analysis of the distribution of the 975 references by type over time is shown in Figure 3. Our references were grouped by decades, with the exception of the first period

<table><caption>**Table 4.** Final reference dataset breakdown by document type and language</caption><thead><tr><th>Document type</th><th>English</th><th>Portuguese</th><th>French</th><th>Spanish</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Peer-reviewed journal article</td><td>261</td><td>40</td><td>47</td><td>16</td></tr><tr><td>Book</td><td>95</td><td>4</td><td>13</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Conference Proceedings</td><td>63</td><td>32</td><td>12</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Thesis</td><td>81</td><td>88</td><td>29</td><td>49</td></tr><tr><td>Generic</td><td>94</td><td>11</td><td>26</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>All document types</td><td>594</td><td>175</td><td>127</td><td>79</td></tr></tbody></table>

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_12.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 3** Total numbers of documents as grouped by type and period</figcaption></figure>

from 1905 to 1980, in which we examined the origins of the term *permaculture* prior to its coining in the mid-1970 s. Literature collected from all types follows a similar pattern. Since 2000, there has been a rapid growth in publication generation (peer-reviewed journal articles, books, conference proceedings, generic documents, and theses), which has intensified significantly in the decade of 2011–2020, particularly for peer-reviewed articles.

**3.3 Semantic shift of the term permaculture and associated terms over time**

Figures 4 and 5 show the word clouds for each of the established periods in the English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish literature related to permaculture.

We also analyzed the 975 references in order to identify trends in the evolution of the term *permaculture* and its associated terms. The ATLAS TI tool was used to conduct a content analysis of titles and keywords. Trends in the evolution of terms associated with permaculture have been identified. Listed in the Supplementary Materials of this article are the 100 terms most commonly associated with permaculture practice in the literature examined (English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French).

Based on the data in Table 5, the following 15 key terms are most commonly associated with the concept of *permaculture* across the four languages (including all time periods). In order to generate this table, we eliminated variants of concepts that expressed similar meanings. As a result, we have presented in the table the 15 concepts with the highest occurrence among the different variants. Sustainability/sustainable, education/ecola/ensino, and ecology/ecological were among the pairs of similar elements that were combined into one with the highest occurrence. The same approach was used for concepts traditionally associated in the literature, such as agriculture/farming and community/social issues. In addition, we merged concepts formed from

compound words (such as climate change and urban farming) that had been separated throughout the analysis. As a general rule, we kept the word that appeared most frequently between the two single words of the compound word. This publication includes a much more comprehensive list of variants and their occurrences in the Supplementary Materials.

Figure 6 presents a color-coded analysis to identify which terms related to permaculture have been consistently used throughout the literature over the periods examined. As a result of this analysis, we identified the concepts that have persisted over three decades and those that have emerged in the last two decades. There are a number of concepts that have remained relevant for at least three decades, including agriculture, design, sustainability, education, soil, and food-related concepts. Over the past two decades, several new terms have emerged, including community, urban gardening, development, movement, and change (as related to climate change). This could be in response to advances in identifying, quantifying and communicating impacts of anthropogenic activities (climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, eutrophication of the oceans, among others), and global efforts to mitigate the effects of these activities.

The color-coding analysis for the other three languages is presented in figure 7.

**3.4 Changes in the nature of peer-reviewed permaculture literature in four languages**

Figure 8 illustrates changes in the nature of literature related to permaculture in four languages. As shown in the graph about English publications (a), the publication of scientific literature related to this term increases significantly around 2010. In the first three years of the period 2021 - 2023, this trend continues with a very similar amount of scientific literature generated compared to the previous full period (2011 - 2020). The trend

<figure><img src="image_13.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_14.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 4** Word cloud analysis showing the most prominent terms in the English-language dataset. Note: (a) 1905–1980 (n= 3), (b) 1981–1990 (n= 5), (c) 1991–2000 (n= 19), (d) 2001–2010 (n= 50), (e) 2011–2020 (n= 314), (f) 2021–2023 (n= 203), (g) All years (n= 594).</figcaption></figure>

in French (b) and Portuguese (c) literature is that most of the works have been philosophical or political. Spanish (d) literature, however, does not exhibit a significant numerical difference between literature of a philosophical and political nature as compared with scientific and technical works.

### 3.4.1 Themes in English literature

The English-language literature highlights a variety of technical and philosophical contributions to the study of permaculture. Technical studies focus on the application of

permaculture principles in addressing practical challenges, while philosophical discussions explore the social and educational dimensions of the field. For example, studies by Bhandari and Lista (2019) and Brain et al. (2017) demonstrate how permaculture principles have been applied to improve soil health, enhance resource efficiency, and support food and economic security. In regional contexts, (2020) offer insights into the characteristics of permaculture systems, emphasizing their adaptability and relevance.

In the domain of design, Shi et al. (2022) describe innovative approaches to urban farming systems, while Kurtaslan
<caption>**Fig. 5** Word cloud analysis showing the most prominent terms in the Portuguese, French, and Spanish datasets.</caption>

a. Portuguese

<figure><img src="image_15.png" /></figure>

b. French

<figure><img src="image_16.png" /></figure>

c. Spanish

<figure><img src="image_17.png" /></figure>

(2020) evaluates the ecological underpinnings of existing permaculture systems. Additionally, Ismail and Affendi (2015) investigate how permaculture principles have been incorporated into urban residential landscapes in Malaysia.

Kruger (2015) expands on these themes by examining sustainability opportunities in energy and building systems.

Management practices are another focal point in English-language studies. Hinton et al. (2021) present

<figure><img src="image_18.png" /></figure>
<table><caption>**Table 5.** The most prominent terms associated with permaculture by language (1900–2023)</caption><thead><tr><th>Terms in English</th><th>Counts</th><th>Terms in Portuguese</th><th>Counts</th><th>Terms in French</th><th>Counts</th><th>Terms in Spanish</th><th>Counts</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Sustainable</td><td>157</td><td>Educação</td><td>91</td><td>Transition</td><td>24</td><td>Desarrollo</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>Agriculture/Farming</td><td>143</td><td>Ambiental</td><td>57</td><td>Écologique</td><td>11</td><td>Diseño</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>Design</td><td>109</td><td>Sustentabilidade</td><td>49</td><td>Agricole</td><td>10</td><td>Arquitectura</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Food/Organic</td><td>99</td><td>Agroecologia</td><td>29</td><td>Production</td><td>8</td><td>Sostenibilidad</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Development</td><td>80</td><td>Agricultura</td><td>19</td><td>Approche</td><td>7</td><td>Comunidad</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Community/Social</td><td>77</td><td>Design</td><td>19</td><td>Biologique</td><td>7</td><td>Alternativa</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Urban/Garden</td><td>76</td><td>Desenvolvimento</td><td>18</td><td>Design</td><td>7</td><td>Centro</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Ecological/Agroecology</td><td>55</td><td>Rural</td><td>18</td><td>France</td><td>6</td><td>Propuesta</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Climate/Change</td><td>51</td><td>Experiência</td><td>14</td><td>Jardin</td><td>6</td><td>Social</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Environmental</td><td>51</td><td>Planejamento</td><td>14</td><td>Microfermes</td><td>6</td><td>Alimentaria</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Soil</td><td>45</td><td>Social</td><td>14</td><td>Mouvement</td><td>6</td><td>Educación</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Systems</td><td>45</td><td>Vida</td><td>14</td><td>Société</td><td>6</td><td>Agricultura</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Management</td><td>45</td><td>Caso</td><td>12</td><td>Cas</td><td>5</td><td>Ambiental</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Education/Learning</td><td>44</td><td>Comunidade</td><td>12</td><td>Maraîchères</td><td>5</td><td>Bioconstrucción</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Rural</td><td>35</td><td>Espaço</td><td>12</td><td>Monde</td><td>5</td><td>Cambio</td><td>6</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><caption>**Fig. 6** A color-coded analysis of English terms associated with permaculture that have persisted through time. The color scheme highlights terms that have appeared in at least three distinct time periods,</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="2">1905 - 1980</th><th colspan="2">1981 - 1990</th><th colspan="2">1991 - 2000</th><th colspan="2">2001 - 2010</th><th colspan="2">2011 - 2020</th><th colspan="2">2021 - 2023</th></tr><tr><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>agriculture</td><td>9</td><td>agriculture</td><td>5</td><td>Food</td><td>4</td><td>sustainable</td><td>12</td><td>sustainable</td><td>70</td><td>sustainable</td><td>71</td></tr><tr><td>fertility</td><td>2</td><td>ecological</td><td>4</td><td>Tropics</td><td>3</td><td>environmental</td><td>11</td><td>agriculture</td><td>63</td><td>agriculture</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>Illinois</td><td>2</td><td>organic</td><td>4</td><td>Agriculture</td><td>2</td><td>agriculture</td><td>9</td><td>design</td><td>61</td><td>urban</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>Soil</td><td>2</td><td>crop</td><td>3</td><td>Cultivation</td><td>2</td><td>gardening</td><td>9</td><td>food</td><td>56</td><td>design</td><td>37</td></tr><tr><td>Arid</td><td>1</td><td>design</td><td>3</td><td>Design</td><td>2</td><td>education</td><td>8</td><td>community</td><td>48</td><td>development</td><td>37</td></tr><tr><td>centuries</td><td>1</td><td>decomposition</td><td>2</td><td>Ecology</td><td>2</td><td>Forest</td><td>8</td><td>development</td><td>39</td><td>food</td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>China</td><td>1</td><td>family</td><td>2</td><td>Empowerment</td><td>2</td><td>management</td><td>7</td><td>organic</td><td>37</td><td>community</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>contribution</td><td>1</td><td>handbooks</td><td>2</td><td>Hope</td><td>2</td><td>Organic</td><td>7</td><td>management</td><td>31</td><td>agroecology</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>Crop</td><td>1</td><td>legumes</td><td>2</td><td>Land</td><td>2</td><td>Plants</td><td>7</td><td>ecological</td><td>29</td><td>regenerative</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>factors</td><td>1</td><td>Matter</td><td>2</td><td>Living</td><td>2</td><td>Design</td><td>6</td><td>change</td><td>28</td><td>systems</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>forestry</td><td>1</td><td>permanent</td><td>2</td><td>Permanent</td><td>2</td><td>woodland</td><td>6</td><td>urban</td><td>28</td><td>climate</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>Forty</td><td>1</td><td>soil</td><td>2</td><td>Personal</td><td>2</td><td>development</td><td>4</td><td>learning</td><td>24</td><td>land</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>foundation</td><td>1</td><td>sustainable</td><td>2</td><td>South</td><td>2</td><td>Ecology</td><td>4</td><td>garden</td><td>23</td><td>change</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>irrigation</td><td>1</td><td>tropical</td><td>2</td><td>Sustainable</td><td>2</td><td>Products</td><td>4</td><td>movement</td><td>22</td><td>education</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>Japan</td><td>1</td><td>Australian</td><td>1</td><td>Academic</td><td>1</td><td>Sciences</td><td>4</td><td>soil</td><td>20</td><td>rural</td><td>18</td></tr></tbody></table>

emphasizing their sustained relevance. The number of occurrences of each term is provided by ATLAS TI.

borehole-garden permaculture as a method of sustainable water management. Chakroun and Droz (2020) and Hirschfeld and Van Acker (2019) explore innovative agricultural strategies, such as crop diversification, perennialization, and nature-sparing approaches.

Philosophical discussions delve into the social and educational dimensions of permaculture. Martín et al. (2023) emphasize the role of cooperatives in addressing inequities in science and education, while Suh (2014) explores how backyard gardening contributes to community development and livelihoods.

<figure><img src="image_19.png" /></figure>
## PORTUGUESE

<table><thead><tr><th colspan="2">2011 - 2020</th><th colspan="2">2021 - 2023</th></tr><tr><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Educação</td><td>77</td><td>Educação</td><td>14</td></tr><tr><td>Ambiental</td><td>46</td><td>Ambiental</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Sustentabilidade</td><td>38</td><td>Design</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Agroecologia</td><td>21</td><td>agroecologia</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura</td><td>15</td><td>sustentabilidade</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Desenvolvimento</td><td>13</td><td>planejamento</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Social</td><td>12</td><td>Horta</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Experiência</td><td>11</td><td>Público</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>Rural</td><td>11</td><td>agricultura</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Vida</td><td>10</td><td>Campo</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Caso</td><td>9</td><td>Espaço</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Cultura</td><td>9</td><td>Princípios</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Design</td><td>9</td><td>Projeto</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Espaço</td><td>9</td><td>Rio</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Planejamento</td><td>8</td><td>Sul</td><td>3</td></tr></tbody></table>

## FRENCH

<table><thead><tr><th colspan="2">2011 - 2020</th><th colspan="2">2021 - 2023</th></tr><tr><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>transition</td><td>17</td><td>Transition</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Agricole</td><td>9</td><td>Ecologique</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>biologique</td><td>7</td><td>Jardin</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>agroécologie</td><td>5</td><td>l'anthropocène</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>approche</td><td>5</td><td>Production</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>design</td><td>5</td><td>Sol</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>monde</td><td>5</td><td>Villes</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>production</td><td>5</td><td>Alternatives</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Vie</td><td>5</td><td>Analyse</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>alimentaires</td><td>4</td><td>Approche</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>environnementale</td><td>4</td><td>Cas</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>France</td><td>4</td><td>Design</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>nature</td><td>4</td><td>Enjeux</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Sein</td><td>4</td><td>Etablir</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>société</td><td>4</td><td>Etape</td><td>2</td></tr></tbody></table>

## SPANISH

<table><caption>**Fig. 7** An analysis of terms associated with permaculture that have persisted in three languages. The color scheme highlights terms that have appeared in at least three distinct time periods. ATLAS TI provided the number of occurrences for each term, indicating their relevance.</caption><thead><tr><th colspan="2">2011 - 2020</th><th colspan="2">2021 - 2023</th></tr><tr><th>Term</th><th>#</th><th>Term</th><th>#</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Desarrollo</td><td>14</td><td>Diseño</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Sostenibilidad</td><td>10</td><td>Desarrollo</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Comunidad</td><td>8</td><td>Sostenible</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>Alimentaria</td><td>7</td><td>Arquitectura</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Alternativa</td><td>7</td><td>Bioconstrucción</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Diseño</td><td>7</td><td>Agrícola</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Cambio</td><td>6</td><td>Ambiental</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Ecológica</td><td>6</td><td>Arquitectónico</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Educativo</td><td>6</td><td>Propuesta</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Innovación</td><td>6</td><td>Rural</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Agricultura</td><td>5</td><td>Turismo</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Arte</td><td>5</td><td>Comunidad</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Ética</td><td>5</td><td>Conocimiento</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Propuesta</td><td>5</td><td>Criterios</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Ambiente</td><td>4</td><td>Ecológico</td><td>2</td></tr></tbody></table>

<figure><img src="image_20.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_21.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_22.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_23.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_24.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 8** An overview of the evolving nature of peer-reviewed permaculture publications in the four languages. Note: (a) English, (b) French, (c) Portuguese, (d) Spanish.</figcaption></figure>

In terms of education, Krisdianto et al. (2021) highlight the significance of traditional knowledge and ecological attitudes in fostering sustainable practices. Similarly, Gashute and Hale (2023) discuss how permaculture serves as a bridge between indigenous agricultural practices and industrial technologies.

### 3.4.2 Themes in French literature

French-language studies often focus on the philosophical and political dimensions of permaculture, with a smaller but significant emphasis on technical applications.

<figure><img src="image_25.png" /></figure>
Philosophical inquiries frequently explore the epistemologi-
cal contrasts between conventional agronomy and agroecology.
Cohen (2018) examines ecological and evolutionary dynamics
in these systems, while Lesson (2021) positions permaculture
as a cultural logic that influences human-environment relation-
ships. Rigolot (2017) adopts an evolutionary perspective to
investigate agricultural transformations and worldview shifts.

Policy and politics are also prominent themes. Chanez and Lebrun-Paré (2015) analyze citizen-led initiatives as responses to neoliberal globalization, illustrating how these efforts reshape political engagement. Chakroun (2020) discusses Swiss agricultural policy, focusing on the challenges of integrating permaculture into broader sustainability frameworks.

Technical studies in French literature often address urban agriculture. For instance, Pezrès (2010) compares permaculture designs with conventional urban planning, highlighting their potential to enhance sustainability. Similarly, Perrotti (2012) examines pilot projects and strategic planning tools designed to implement permaculture on a territorial scale.

3.4.3 Themes in Portuguese literature

Portuguese-language studies emphasize education and
design, reflecting the philosophical and technical aspects of
permaculture.

In the realm of education, de Castro Martins et al. (2021)
and Santos et al. (2012) investigate the incorporation of
permaculture into environmental education, particularly in
schools. da Silva, Podewils et al. (2018) evaluate the out-
comes of critical ecological education initiatives, empha-
sizing their role in promoting sustainable practices and
awareness.

Technical studies focus on design and architecture. Azevedo (2022) highlights vernacular architectural techniques that prioritize local materials, reducing costs and improving comfort. Similarly, de Avila et al. (2022) describe participatory processes in implementing permaculture systems, offering valuable insights into community-driven approaches.

3.4.4 Themes in Spanish literature

Spanish-language studies provide a balanced perspective,
addressing both philosophical and technical aspects of
permaculture.

Philosophical discussions frequently examine social
transformations and cultural frameworks. Pereira Salazar
(2013) investigates how these frameworks support trans-
formative social action, while Gutiérrez Pinto (2021)
explores the integration of socio-anthropological and geo-
graphic perspectives in the development of sustainable
habitats.

Technical contributions include García et al. (2016) who describe the use of rainwater in school gardens and the establishment of permaculture fruit forests. Muñiz (2019) highlights the application of permaculture in urban agriculture, while Herrera and Elizondo (2010) discuss ecological construction systems inspired by permaculture principles.

3.5 An analysis of how the term permaculture
is received in peer-reviewed English literature

The results of our analysis of citation counts are shown in Figure 9. There is a more complete list of the citation count analysis of the main English-language publications available in the supplementary material. Based on this analysis, six publications were identified with high citation counts. Among these six papers, two are at the top of the list and both Scopus and Web of Science indicate that they have similar citation counts. These two publications are Regenerative Agriculture: An Agronomic Perspective (Giller et al. 2021) and Permaculture for Agroecology: Design, Movement, Practice, and Worldview. A review (Ferguson and Lovell 2014).

Our analysis based on the H-index is presented in Fig-
ure 10. The figure presents the 10 publications with the high-
est H-index, either in the first author, second author, or last
author order. As a general rule, the top authors in scientific
publications fall within these three positions.

4 Discussion

Despite its high profile and worldwide distribution, perma-
culture remains relatively isolated from scientific research,
according to Ferguson and Lovell (2014). As far as we could
tell, Ferguson and Lovell (2014) work is the only attempt
at a literary review of permaculture. This study examines
whether permaculture has moved from a philosophical, ethi-
cal, and social context to a technical one, or vice versa, for
the first time in four different languages. A further ques-
tion is whether permaculture has evolved over time into a
scientific subject. Our analysis of 975 references indicates
that there is a significant increase in interest in publishing
literature on permaculture-related topics in a variety of audi-
ences, primarily academics and scientists. This growth first
began in each of the four languages examined in this lit-
erature review during the decade of 2000, and then became
more prominent during the decade of 2010.

The initial promoters of the *permaculture* concept pro-
vided their visions of the term. These were Bill Mollison
in 1988 in his book *Permaculture: A Designer's Manual*
and David Holmgren in 2013 in his booklet *The Essence of
Permaculture*. Their definitions are separated by 25 years
and provide us with an initial and modern view of their con-
ception. Terms such as *consciousness design*, *ecosystems*,

<figure><img src="image_26.png" /></figure>
<table><caption>**Fig. 9** Comparison of citation counts for top English publications in different databases. Color coding: Green > 40, Orange 39–20, Red < 20. Excluding self-citations.</caption><thead><tr><th>Publication title</th><th>Scopus</th><th>Web of Science</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Regenerative Agriculture: An agronomic perspective (Giller, Hijbeek et al 2021)</td><td>143</td><td>126</td></tr><tr><td>Permaculture for agroecology: design, movement, practice, and worldview. A review (Ferguson and Lovell 2014)</td><td>142</td><td>110</td></tr><tr><td>Feeding and healing the world: through regenerative agriculture and permaculture (Rhodes 2013)</td><td>65</td><td>Not determined</td></tr><tr><td>Grassroots engagement with transition to sustainability: diversity and modes of participation in the international permaculture movement (Ferguson and Lovell 2015)</td><td>51</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>Agroecology and permaculture: addressing key ecological problems by rethinking and redesigning agricultural systems (Hathaway 2016)</td><td>47</td><td>Not determined</td></tr><tr><td>Permaculture—Scientific Evidence of Principles for the Agroecological Design of Farming Systems (Krebs and Bach 2018)</td><td>39</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>Examining Innovation for Sustainability from the Bottom Up: An Analysis of the Permaculture Community in England (Maye 2018)</td><td>38</td><td>Not determined</td></tr><tr><td>Integral estimate of the added value of agricultural crops in the synergetic agriculture on the example of vicia faba (Zhao, Cherkasov et al 2021)</td><td>37</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>The impact of growing legume plants under conditions of biologization and soil cultivation on chernozem fertility and productivity of rotation crops (Mukhametov, Bekhorashvili et al 2021)</td><td>33</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Alternative visions: Permaculture as imaginaries of the Anthropocene (Roux-Rosier, Azambuja et al 2018)</td><td>33</td><td>26</td></tr></tbody></table>

diversity, food, local, and energy are important in the visions of permaculture as described by those authors. The study results show that some of these concepts have persisted, while others were displaced (depending on languages and type of literature), and many are emerging. Since its inception, the *permaculture* concept has exhibited an adaptive nature that combines ancient traditional knowledge with modern practices and ecological principles. Various analyses presented in this study support the changing nature of the term *permaculture* over time. Many factors may contribute to this, including adaptation to changing environmental needs, the evolution of our society's challenges clearly defined by the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (Lee et al. 2016), as well as efforts to ensure that our society remains aware of pressing issues such as environmental degradation and climate change's detrimental effects.

## 4.1 Evolution of the term permaculture

Through an analysis of 230 permaculture publications, Ferguson and Lovell (2014) identified relevant terms related to permaculture, including design, agriculture, urban, sustainable, community, and system. We reaffirm some of the terms proposed by Ferguson and Lovell (2014); however, we have also highlighted other terms that have persisted through time, such as *soil, ecology, education, and food*. Further, in the years following Ferguson and Lovell's (2014) literature review, other terms have emerged as relevant to the English literature, including *organic, social, development, management, regenerative, climate change, urban gardens, and education*. Words such as *development, design, community, education, sustainability, alternative, food, and change*

<figure><img src="image_27.png" /></figure>
<table><caption>Fig. 10 H-index analysis based on data from Web of Science</caption><thead><tr><th>Publication</th><th>Author 1</th><th>H-index</th><th>Author 2</th><th>H-index</th><th>Last Author</th><th>H-index</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Regenerative Agriculture: An agronomic perspective</td><td>Giller, Ken E</td><td>77</td><td>Hijbeek, R.</td><td>13</td><td>Sumberg, J</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>Plant genus Elaeagnus: underutilized lycopene and linoleic acid reserve with permaculture potential</td><td>Patel, Seema</td><td>39</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Local scale water-food nexus: Use of borehole-garden permaculture to realise the full potential of rural water supplies in Malawi</td><td>Rivett, Michael O</td><td>28</td><td>Halcrow, Alistair W</td><td>1</td><td>Kalin, RM</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>Learning in the Permaculture Community of Practice in England: An Analysis of the Relationship between Core Practices and Boundary Processes</td><td>Julie Ingram</td><td>26</td><td>Maye, Damian</td><td>30</td><td>Kubinakova, Katarina</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Permaculture for agroecology: design, movement, practice, and worldview. A review</td><td>Ferguson, Rafter Sass</td><td>5</td><td>Lovell, Sarah T</td><td>28</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tree Crops, a Permanent Agriculture: Concepts from the Past for a Sustainable Future</td><td>Molnar, Thomas J</td><td>14</td><td>Kahn, Peter C</td><td>20</td><td>Funk, CR</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>Sustainable management models: innovating through Permaculture</td><td>Vitari, Claudio</td><td>12</td><td>David, Christophe</td><td>20</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Integral estimate of the added value of agricultural crops in the synergetic agriculture on the example of vicia faba</td><td>Zhao, Q</td><td>1</td><td>Cherkasov, Sergei, V</td><td>0</td><td>Mikhaylov, Alexey Y</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>"The right to food is nature too": food justice and everyday environmental expertise in the Salvadoran permaculture movement</td><td>Millner, Naomi</td><td>6</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Environmental anthropology engaging permaculture: moving theory and practice toward sustainability</td><td>Veteto, James R.</td><td>9</td><td>Lockyer, Joshua</td><td>4</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

(desarrollo, diseño, comunidad, educación, sostenibilidad, alternativa, comida, and cambio) have significance in Spanish. A number of terms appear frequently in French literature, including design, organic, ecological, transition, and society (design, biologique, écologique, transition, and société). Education, sustainability, agroecology, design, social, and development (educação, sustentabilidade, agroecologia, design, social, and desenvolvimento) were the most prevalent terms in Portuguese literature. Permaculture is most commonly associated with three terms in the four languages: design, agriculture, and ecology. A number of other terms, such as social/community, education, and sustainability, are also very prevalent in at least three languages.

## 4.2 The term permaculture continues to be used more frequently in peer-reviewed technical literature

Considering Figure 3 of this study, we can conclude that permaculture research has increased significantly (when compiling all languages) during the decade 2011–2020 and in the most recent period studied (2021–2023) compared to previous periods. Based on the source distribution depicted in Figure 2, the three most common document types in English are peer-reviewed journal articles (44%), books and generics (16% each), and theses (13%). According to our analysis of the English data set, scientific publications tend to focus largely on technical issues relating to permaculture.

<figure><img src="image_28.png" /></figure>
Contrary to this, philosophical aspects of permaculture emerge in 2000–2010. Nevertheless, the technical-scientific element continues to dominate the more recent philosophical aspect of permaculture. According to our analysis of scientific literature in English, the term has begun to appear in peer-reviewed publications of a philosophical nature in the 2000 s. On the other hand, Figure 8 (a) indicates that the term *permaculture* appears primarily in peer-reviewed papers of a technical nature. Over the last two periods, technical-scientific publications have outnumbered philosophical publications by more than 75% and 56%, respectively.

Based on the information depicted in Figure 2, the three most common document types in French are peer-reviewed journal articles (37%), thesis (23%), and generic (21%). Our study indicates that most of the literature in the French language has a philosophical orientation since its emergence in the 2000 s. Although reference to permaculture in French remained largely philosophical until the present day, technical literature in this language started to emerge in the 2010 s. The following are some of the most prominent topics in the literature studied according to their nature and the intended purposes of some of the publications in the French dataset.

Based on the source distribution depicted in Figure 2, the three most common document types in Portuguese are thesis (50%), peer reviewed journal article (23%), and conference proceedings (18%). The Portuguese database shows a similar tendency to the Spanish and French databases toward the development of philosophical-political literature. The Portuguese scientific-technical literature on permaculture emerged in the 2000 s, as opposed to the French and Spanish literature, which emerged in the 2010 s.

In accordance with Figure 2, the three most common document types in Spanish are theses (50%), peer-reviewed journal articles (23%), and conference proceedings (18%). Similarly to the Portuguese and French databases, the Spanish database shows a tendency toward the development of philosophical-political literature related to permaculture. Spanish literature of a scientific-technical nature began to emerge in the 2010 s, similarly to the French dataset.

## 4.3 Research and publications in peer-reviewed journals have embraced the term permaculture in recent decades

In both white and gray literature, it is evident that the number of publications related to permaculture is increasing. Based on the analysis of 364 scientific publications in four different languages, the literature has grown significantly over the past decade, especially between 2010 and 2023. Alternatively, our analysis, based on the H-index, indicates that various successful researchers have published on the concept of permaculture. Among the most prominent, we can list Ken Giller, Seema Patel, Damian Maye, Sarah Lovell, and Julie

Ingram, who have H-index values greater than the number of years they have of research work according to WOS records (Bornmann and Daniel 2007; Hirsch and Buela-Casal 2014). Other researchers such as R.M. Kalim, Michael Rivett, and J. Sumberg exceed H-index values of 20.

As a result of our analysis, two publications have been identified as the most important regarding the concept of *permaculture: Regenerative Agriculture: An Agronomic Perspective* (Giller et al. 2021) and *Permaculture for Agroecology: Design, Movement, Practice and Worldview. A review* (Ferguson and Lovell 2014). Scopus shows that those publications have 143 and 142 citations, respectively.

Essential Science Indicators placed *Regenerative Agriculture: An Agronomic Perspective* among the top 1% of highly cited articles in the academic field of Agricultural Sciences in September/October 2023. Meanwhile, *Permaculture for Agroecology: Design, Movement, Practice and Worldview. A review* did not achieve this distinction. Giller et al. (2021), in their publication, delve into the concept of regenerative agriculture through an exhaustive review of the literature. According to them, this concept is nothing more than a reframing of two other approaches widely discussed in the white and grey literature, such as agroecology and sustainable intensification. It was suggested by the authors that the introduction of a new concept such as regenerative agriculture created further confusion as to the challenges facing both predecessor concepts. Giller et al. (2021) even go so far as to suggest that it diverts attention from more fundamental challenges in the agricultural sector. A further claim made by Giller et al. (2021) is that permaculture is a niche practice with limited application in the production of various agricultural products. Meanwhile, Ferguson and Lovell (2014) conduct a systematic review of the literature of agroecology and argue that permaculture can be a significant contributor to the agroecological production industry.

# 5 Limitations of the study

a. It is important to note that the exploration of the origins of the terms *permaculture* and *permanent agriculture* is hampered by the fact that several of the catalogs or databases used in this study do not permit searches prior to 1900. In view of this, it is possible that the term *permanent agriculture* was used prior to 1900, and we have not considered it in this literary analysis.

b. In the study of the origins of the term *permaculture* and its associated term *permanent agriculture*, other influences on permaculture practice were not identified by the methodology implemented in this review, including Masanobu Fukuoka's (1978) work. Therefore, it is possible that other influences on the *permaculture* term, practice, or movement may not have been detected.
c. A critical aspect of our methodology was to avoid consid-
ering the author's or co-author's perspective. As a conse-
quence, the classification of each of the sources analyzed
was carried out as much as possible based on taxonomies
(Research areas, Categories, Topic Prominence, Unique
Areas of Research) provided by the databases and cata-
logs used in the analysis. The use and combination of
tools such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and
computer-assisted qualitative analysis is recommended as
part of future literature reviews for the term for a deeper
analysis of the references'content and for determine their
technical or philosophical perspectives.

**6 Conclusion**

This study presents the most comprehensive analysis of per-
maculture literature to date, systematically evaluating 975
peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications in English,
Portuguese, French, and Spanish. By examining bibliometric
data, content (title and keyword) analysis, H-index, and citation
counts, this work provides valuable insights into the evolu-
tion and impact of the term'permaculture' within academic and
non-academic contexts. Among the four languages analyzed,
permaculture is most commonly associated with design, agri-
culture, and ecology, highlighting its interdisciplinary nature.
Additionally, concepts such as social/community, education,
and sustainability are prevalent across three languages, further
demonstrating the term's broad applicability.

Several conclusions can be drawn from this analysis:

The term'permaculture'remains prominent across various
types of literature, particularly in scientific and academic
contexts.

A general upward trend in publications related to perma-
culture has been observed, with significant growth over the
past three years.

The concept of permaculture continues to evolve, driven
by shifting social, environmental, and economic priorities.

In English-language peer-reviewed literature, permacul-
ture is predominantly associated with technical applications,
while its philosophical aspects are more prominent in Span-
ish, Portuguese, and French literature.

Permaculture has increasingly garnered attention in
English peer-reviewed literature over the past two decades,
including from internationally renowned scientists.

The findings of this study underscore the term's potential
to contribute significantly to scientific discourse and sus-
tainable agricultural practices. Despite this, the isolation of
permaculture from mainstream scientific literature poses a
challenge to its broader integration and impact. Addressing
this gap is critical for maximizing its potential as a tool for
ecological, economic, and social transformation.

The implications of this work are multifaceted. First, by
systematically cataloging and analyzing permaculture litera-
ture, this review provides a valuable resource for researchers
and practitioners seeking to understand the concept's evolu-
tion and current applications. Second, the interdisciplinary
nature of permaculture highlights its potential to bridge gaps
between scientific and practical knowledge, fostering collab-
orations that advance sustainability goals. Finally, this study
emphasizes the importance of integrating permaculture into
mainstream scientific discourse to enhance its credibility and
applicability, ultimately supporting global efforts to create
more resilient and sustainable food systems.

Future research should explore the practical applications
of permaculture principles across diverse contexts, focusing
on their measurable impacts on sustainability and resilience.
Furthermore, fostering collaborations between scientists,
practitioners, and policymakers will be crucial to ensuring
that permaculture's principles and practices achieve their
full potential in addressing the complex challenges facing
contemporary agriculture and society.

**Authors'contributions** RCFT conceptualized the research, acquired funding, collected data (English, Portuguese, and Spanish), performed the data analysis, developed all figures and tables, and wrote the article. JJM-A collected data (French) and reviewed and edited the article. OGC provided funding, supervised the conceptualization and execution of the research, and reviewed and edited the article. The Center for Hydro-Environmental Innovation, Research, and Technology (CITEC) partially contributed to the open access publication cost.

**Funding** This research was supported by the IFARHU-SENACYT Scholarship Program (Panama), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) CREATE Program in Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Sustainability, and NSERC Discovery grant number 04863.

**Data availability** All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. The supplementary information files are hosted on eScholarship@ McGill, McGill University's institutional digital repository featuring electronic, open access outputs of McGill researchers and students.

* S1. **Publication dataset.xlsx** (Table S1) List of publications related to permaculture included in the review of English, Spanish, Portuguese and French literature. This file is hosted at: https://escho larship.mcgill.ca/concern/file_sets/wm117v100?locale=en.

* S2. **Terms most associated with permaculture (English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish).xlsx** (Tables S2-A, B, C and D) The 100 terms most associated with the practice of permaculture in the English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, respectively.

This file is hosted at: https://eschoscholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/file_sets/td96k802j?locale=en

**Code availability** Not applicable.

**Declarations**

**Conflicts of interest** The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

**Ethics approval/declarations** Not applicable.

<figure><img src="image_29.png" /></figure>
**Consent to participate** Not applicable.

**Consent for publication** Not applicable.

**Open Access** This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

## References

Akabane G, Kassai JR, Galhardi AC (2017) The Permanent Agriculture as a Means of Harmony between Nature Cycle and Human Being. IOSR-JESTFT. https://doi.org/10.9790/2402-1106034655

Akhtar F, Lodhi SA, Khan SS et al (2016) Incorporating permaculture and strategic management for sustainable ecological resource management. J Environ Manage 179:31–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.051

Altieri MA (1998) Ecological Impacts of Industrial Agriculture and the Possibilities for Truly Sustainable Farming. Mon Rev 50(3):60

Altieri MA (1989) Agroecology: A new research and development paradigm for world agriculture. Gliessman S, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Elsevier, pp 37–46

Azevedo SP (2022) Ecovila: Vila sustentável bioconstruida com base na permacultura

Badgley C, Moghtader J, Quintero E et al (2007) Organic agriculture and the global food supply. Renew Agric Food Syst 22(2):86–108

Bellacasa MPdl (2010) Ethical ngs in naturecultures. Ethics Place Environ 13(2):151–169. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13668791003778834

Bhandari D, Bista B (2019) Permaculture: A Key Driver for Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol 7(2):167–173. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v7i2.24647

Bornmann L, Daniel HD (2007) What do we know about the h index? J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 58(9):1381–1385. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20609

Bouwman A (1989) Modelling soil organic matter decomposition and rainfall erosion in two tropical soils after forest clearing for permanent agriculture. Land Degrad Dev 1(2):125–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/LDR.3400010205

Brain R, Thomas B (2013) Permaculture. In University US, Environment and Society Faculty

Brain R, Adams J, Lynch J (2017) Mitigating projected impacts of climate change and building resiliency through permaculture: A community ?bee inspired gardens? movement in the desert Southwest, USA. WIT Trans Ecol Environ 223:505–515. https://doi.org/10.2495/SC170441

Brink RA, Densmore JW, Hill GA (1977) Soil deterioration and the growing world. Demand for Food Science 197(4304):625–630. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.197.4304.625

Carson R (1962) Silent spring. Penguin Books 0618249060

Caulley L, Cheng W, Catalá-López F et al (2020) Citation impact was highly variable for reporting guidelines of health research:

a citation analysis. J Clin Epidemiol 127:96–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.07.013

Chakroun L, Droz L (2020) Sustainability through landscapes: natural parks, satoyama, and permaculture in Japan. Ecosyst People 16(1):369–383

Chakroun L (2019) Cultivating Concrete Utopia: Understanding How Japan's Permaculture Experiments are Shaping a Political Vision of Sustainable Living. Paper presented at the ACSEE2019 Conference Proceedings-Social Sustainability and Sustainable Living

Chakroun L (2020) La permaculture au sein des dynamiques territoriales : leviers pour une mésologisation de l'agriculture suisse. Dév durable territ 11(n):1 https://doi.org/10.4000/developpementdurable.14784

Chanez A, Lebrun-Paré F (2015) Villeray en transition : initiatives citoyennes d'appropriation de l'espace habité ? Cah de Rech Sociol 58:139–163. https://doi.org/10.7202/1036210ar

Clark S (1928) Permanent Agriculture and Soil Fertility. Ariz Agric 1(1):15–17. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/303235

Cohen GA (2018) Usage des oxymores et pratique des lisières. Cah Philos 153: 25-37. https://www.cairn.info/revue-les-cahiers-philo sophiques-de-caen-2018-1-page-25.htm

Conrad A (2010) The potential of permaculture: addressing subsistence farming and food security in Malawi. Paper presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting Merida

Conrad A (2014) We are Farmers: Agriculture, Food Security, and Adaptive Capacity Among Permaculture and Conventional Farmers in Central Malawi. American University, Washington DC. Retrieved from. http://pri-kenya.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ Conrad-FINAL-Dissertation-We-are-farmers-Copy.pdf on August 1, 2024. Available from database

da Silva WM, Podewils TL, das Neves Peduzzi A, (2018) Educação ambiental e permacultura: ações da escola à comunidade. Ambiente Educ Rev Educ Ambiental 23(2):138–154

de Avila B, Roldo L, Dresch NL (2022) Design na escola: As vozes dos estudantes a partir da instalação de laboratórios de Design por meio da perspectiva da Ecologia Profunda e da Permacultura. Design Tecnol 12(24):35–45

de Castro Martins P, Maneschy DM, Menezes JS et al (2021) Educação ambiental escolar a partir da agroecologia e da permacultura: a experiência do projeto Escola Permacultural. Desenvolv Meio Ambiente, 58. https://revistas.ufpr.br/made/article/view/72551

Desertification UNCTC (2017) Global Land Outlook First Edition. Retrieved from Bonn, Germany: https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/documents/2017-09/GLO_Full_Report_low_res.pdf

Eppig ML (2017) Russell Lord and the Permanent Agriculture Movement: An Environmental Biography. Antioch University, Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_ettd/ettd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=antioch1503404147197934 on August 01, 2024. Available from database

Ferguson RS, Lovell ST (2015) Grassroots engagement with transition to sustainability: diversity and modes of participation in the international permaculture movement. Ecol Soc 20(4). https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss4/art39/

Ferguson RS, Lovell ST (2014) Permaculture for agroecology: design, movement, practice, and worldview. A Review. Agron Sustain Dev 34(2):251–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-013-0181-6

Gallardo-López F, Hernández-Chontal MA, Cisneros-Saguilán P et al (2018) Development of the concept of agroecology in Europe: A review. Sustainability 10(4):1210. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/1210

García RMR, Acosta RH, Martín JCH et al (2016) La permacultura, una alternativa en la producción de alimentos desde la escuela y la comunidad. Coop Desar COODES 4(1):84-94. https://rc.upr.edu.cu/bitstream/DICT/2346/1/115-1226-3-PB.pdf
Gashute TS, Hale TK (2023) The role of permaculture in the integration of indigenous and modern agricultural knowledge: Evidence from Konso, Ethiopia. Sustain Dev. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sd.2483

Gill T (1962) Forestry's Contribution to a Permanent Agriculture. Paper presented at the Science, Technology, and Development: United States Papers Prepared for the United Nations Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for the Benefit of the Less Developed Areas

Giller KE, Hijbeek R, Andersson JA et al (2021) Regenerative agriculture: an agronomic perspective. Outlook Agric 50(1): 13-25. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727021998063

Guitart D, Pickering C, Byrne J (2012) Past results and future directions in urban community gardens research. Urban Urban Green 11(4):364-373. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1618866712000830

Gutiérrez Pinto D (2021) La permacultura como fundamento del ordenamiento territorial. Propuesta de Desarrollo Sostenible en Cerro Colorado, Arequipa. Rev Iberoam Estud Munic 23:129-152. https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0719-1790202100100129&script=sci Artículo

Hassan W, Kamdem JP, Teixeira da Rocha JB (2020) Research trends in chemico-biological interactions: The golden jubilee (1969-2019). Chem Biol Interact 327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109177

Hathaway MD (2015) The Practical Wisdom of Permaculture: An Anthropoharmonic Phronesis for Moving toward an Ecological Epoch. Environ Ethics 37(4):445-463. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics201537440

Hathaway MD (2016) Agroecology and permaculture: addressing key ecological problems by rethinking and redesigning agricultural systems. J Environ Stud Sci 6(2):239-250. https://link.springer.com/article/https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-015-0254-8

Herrera NLR, Elizondo MTL (2010) La Permacultura: una alternativa en los sistemas constructivos sustentables. Contexto (4): 61-68. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo? codigo=6264884

Hinton RG, Macleod CJ, Troldborg M et al (2021) Factors influencing the awareness and adoption of borehole-garden permaculture in Malawi: lessons for the promotion of sustainable practices. Sustainability 13(21):12196

Hirsch JE (2005) An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102(46):16569-16572

Hirsch JE, Buela-Casal G (2014) The meaning of the h-index. Int J Clin Health Psychol 14(2):161-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1697-2600(14)70050-X

Hirschfeld S, Van Acker R (2019) Permaculture farmers consistently cultivate perennials, crop diversity, landscape heterogeneity and nature conservation. Renew Agric Food Syst 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170519000012

Holmgren D (2013) Essence of permaculture. In: Holmgren Design Services Hepburn

Hopkins CG (1905) Factors in crop production with special reference to permanent agriculture in Illinois. Agric Exp Stn, 87(Circular, University of Illinois). https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/33779/bitstreams/108875/data.pdf

Hopkins CG (1906) Illinois soils in relation to systems of permanent agriculture. In: Book Illinois soils in relation to systems of permanent agriculture

Ismail NA, Affendi SM (2015) Awareness and Acceptability of Permaculture In A Residential Landscape Design: A Case Study of Denai Alam Community. Res J Fish Hydrobiol 10(14):6-10. https://www.aensiweb.net/AENSIWEB/rjfh/rjfh/2015/October/6-10.pdf

Israelsen OW (1943) The Foundation of Permanent Agriculture in Arid Regions. In: Book The Foundation of Permanent Agriculture in Arid Regions. Utah

Jeavons J (1982) How to grow more vegetables: than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine, a primer on the life-giving biodynamic/French intensive method of organic horticulture. Berkeley, California 94707: Ten Speed Press. 1-58008-156-8

King FH (1911) Farmers of forty centuries: or, Permanent agriculture in China, Korea and Japan. Mrs. FH King 0486436098

Krebs J, Bach S (2018) Permaculture—Scientific Evidence of Principles for the Agroecological Design of Farming Systems. Sustainability 10(9):3218. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093218

Kreinovich V, Kosheleva O, Nguyen HP (2021) Why h-Index. Stud. Comput Intell 899:61-65. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49536-7_6

Krisdianto K, Susilawati I, Fatimah S (2021). Permaculture gardening, the first step of food sustainability in the tropical freshwater wetland. Paper presented at the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

Kruger EM (2015) Options for Sustainability in Building and Energy: A South African Permaculture Case Study. Energy Procedia 83: 544-554. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610215028398

Kurtaslan B (2020) Examination of Selcuk University Alaaddin Keykubat Campus in the context of ecological landscape design. J Environmental Biol 41(2):463-474. https://www.jeb.co.in/journal_issues/202003.mar20_spl/paper_27.pdf

Lee BX, Kjaerulf F, Turner S et al (2016) Transforming our world: implementing the 2030 agenda through sustainable development goal indicators. J Public Health Policy 37:13-31. https://link.springer.com/article/https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-016-0002-7

Lesson B (2021) L'invention d'un principe persévérance : une lecture de L'Art de l'Anthropocène et de Permaculture. Rev Fr Sci Inf Commun. https://doi.org/10.4000/rfsic.10162

Malard-Adam J (2023) La publicación científica en revistas comerciales y de acceso libre, ¿un callejón sin salida? Rev Investig Proyecc Autopía 1:10-15. https://hal.science/hal-04660253/docum ent

Martín RB, Palombo NE, Martinenco RM et al (2023) Narratives of learning in a permacultural cooperative: some inspiring ideas for science education in the light of Freire's pedagogy. Cult Stud Sci Educ 18(1):175-193. https://link.springer.com/article/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-023-10164-5

Mazoyer M, Roudart L (2006) A history of world agriculture: from the neolithic age to the current crisis. NYU Press, New York, p 1583671218

Meadows DH, Meadows DL, Randers J et al (1972) The Limits to Growth. Switzerland: Club of Rome 0451052501

Méndez VE, Bacon C, Cohen R (2013) Agroecology as a Transdisciplinary, Participatory, and Action-Oriented Approach. Agroecol Sustain Food Syst 37(1):3-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2012.736926

Mitsch WJ (1996) Ecological engineering: a new paradigm for engineers and ecologists. Eng Within Ecol Constraints 111. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/4919/chapter/9

Moersdorf J, Rivers M, Denkenberger D et al (2024) The Fragile State of Industrial Agriculture: Estimating Crop Yield Reductions in a Global Catastrophic Infrastructure Loss Scenario. Glob Challenges 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202300206

Mollison B (1988) Permaculture: a designer's manual. Tagari Publications, Sisters Creek, Tazmania, p 0908228015

Molnar TJ (2013) Tree crops, a permanent agriculture: Concepts from the past for a sustainable future. Resources 2(4):457-488. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/2/4/457

<figure><img src="image_30.png" /></figure>
Muñiz R (2019) El aporte de la permacultura en el desarrollo de la agricultura urbana. Tekhné 22(1). https://revistasenlinea.saber.ucab.edu.ve/index.php/tekhne/article/view/4033

Noble A (2000) A cation exchange index for assessing degradation of acid soil by further acidification under permanent agriculture in the tropics. Eur J Soil Sci 51(2):233-243. https://bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2389.2000.00313.x

Paull J (2006) Permanent agriculture: precursor to organic farming. Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania 83:19-21. https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/10237/

Paull J (2011) The making of an agricultural classic: Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, 1911-2011. Agric Sci 2(03:175. https://www.scirp.org/html/6685.html

Pereira Salazar CA (2013) Participación y acción colectiva en los movimientos globales de ecoaldeas y permacultura. Rev Lat Am Psicol 45(3):399-411. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?pid=S0120-05342013000300006&script=sci arttext

Perrotti D (2012) La ruralité urbaine : de plateforme d'expérimentation à lieu de la mise en scène d'un nouveau modèle de durabilité. Environ Urbain 6. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/eue/2012-v6-eue0411/1013715ar/abstract/

Peter M, Diekötter T, Kremer K (2019) Participant outcomes of bio-diversity citizen science projects: A systematic literature review. Sustainability 11(10):2780. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2780

Pezrès E (2010) La permaculture au sein de l'agriculture urbaine: Du jardin au projet de société. VertigO Rev Electron Sci Environ 10(2). https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/9941

Porciello J, Skidan V, Ambikapathi R et al (2024) The State of the Field for Research on Agrifood Systems. Juno Rep 1(1). https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/https://doi.org/10.1079/junorreports.2024.0001

Puginier O (1999) Land Use Planning in Transition from Shifting Cultivation to Permanent Agriculture in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Conference on Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural and Natural Resource Management Deutscher Tropentag, Berlin.

Reganold JP, Wachter JM (2016) Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century. Nat Plants 2(2):15221. https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.221

Rigolot C (2017) Une approche évolutives des « visions du monde » pour penser les transformations de l'agriculture. Cah Agric, 26(3), 36001. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1051/cagri/2017015

Santos ML, Barbosa WA, Caon KG (2012) Caminhos para a permacultura popular: Experiência de formação do grupo sauí-saúde integral em permacultura. Ambiente Educ Rev Educ Ambiental 17(2):117-132. https://periodicos.furg.br/ambeduc/article/view/2650

Sati VP (2020) New Land Use Policy and Sustainable Permanent Agriculture. Econ Ecol Impl Shift Cultiv Mizoram India 109-122. https://link.springer.com/chapter/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36602-5_7

Shah FA, Jawaid SA (2023) The h-index: an indicator of research and publication output. Pak J Med Sci 39(2):315. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10025721/

Shanahan M (2022) Honey Bees and Industrial Agriculture: What Researchers are Missing, and Why it's a Problem. J Insect Sci 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieab090

Shi J, Guo Q, Zhao X (2022) Innovative Internet Solutions for Suburban Community Farm Practices: A Study in Lowland Communities of Hangzhou, China. Sustainability 14(22):15445. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15445

Smith JR (1929) Tree crops: A permanent agriculture. Island Press, New York, p 0933280440

Strange P (1983) Permaculture: practical design for town and country in permanent agriculture. Ecologist 13(2-3):88-94

Suh J (2014) Towards Sustainable Agricultural Stewardship: Evolution and Future Directions of the Permaculture Concept. Environ Values 23(1):75-98. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/https://doi.org/10.5555/20143061130

Suryatna E, McIntosh J (1982) Weed control in a shifting cultivation and permanent agriculture. Biotrop Spec Publ 15: 63-73. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/https://doi.org/10.5555/19840767808

Teague WR (2015) Toward restoration of ecosystem function and livelihoods on grazed agroecosystems. Crop Sci 55(6): 2550-2556. https://acss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2015.06.0372

Thorne D, Anderson D (1942) Irrigation and permanent agriculture. Yearb Assoc Pac Coast Geogr 8(1):6-14. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/article/462014/summary

Toensmeier E (2016) The carbon farming solution: A global toolkit of perennial crops and regenerative agriculture practices for climate change mitigation and food security. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont, p 1603585710

Tortorello M (2011) The Permaculture Movements Grows From Underground. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/garden/permaculture-emerges-from-the-underground.html on August 1, 2024

Tower WS (1911) Soil Fertility and Permanent Agriculture. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 37:237. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1011622

Tugwell RG (1929) Farm Relief and a Permanent Agriculture. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci 142(1):271-282. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/https://doi.org/10.1177/000271622914200131

Van Raan AFJ (2006) Comparison of the Hirsch-index with standard bibliometric indicators and with peer judgment for 147 chemistry research groups. Scientometrics 67(3):491-502. https://link.springer.com/article/https://doi.org/10.1556/Scient.67.2006.3.10

Wezel A, Soldat V (2009) A quantitative and qualitative historical analysis of the scientific discipline of agroecology. Int J Agric Sustain 7(1):3-18. https://doi.org/10.3763/ijas.2009.0400

Wezel A, Bellon S, Doré T et al (2009) Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A Review. Agron Sustain Dev 29(4):503-515. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro/2009004

Woodhouse P (2010) Beyond industrial agriculture? Some questions about farm size, productivity and sustainability. J Agrar Change 10(3):437-453

**Publisher's Note** Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.