C.R.A.S.H Course

Over two weeks this free course was offered to 30 participants as a space to imagine a post-capitalist future. Using principles of permaculture and popular education (including consensus decision making and non- hierarchical working structures) the group looked at new, radical and sustainable alternatives to the ecological and economic crises, which were then put into practice in the symbolic heart of the capitalist system – London’s square mile.

The participants were mostly young, precariously employed or unemployed and came from a variety of backgrounds including art and activism. The C.R.A.S.H Course also included a site visit to OrganicLea, and covered permaculture principles, the politics of urban growing, investigations into the art of disobedience, narrative tools for campaigning, bike building, shelter design, grey water systems, impermaculture design for temporary spaces, and alternative city walks. At the end of the course, other permaculturists, activists, artists, campaigners and architects joined the participants to create a permaculture mobile structure and performance, C.R.A.S.H Contingency.