Looby's Books

Designing personal, collective and planetary well-being,

Celebrating 10 years of People and Permaculture!

Since it's publication in 2012, 10 years ago, People and Permaculture has been a landmark book in the permaculture movement - it is the first book globally to explore how to use permaculture design and principles for people, to restore personal, social and planetary well-being.

This book widens the definition of permaculture from being mainly about land based systems to taking it right into the heart of our own lives, relationships and society. This book provides a framework to help each of us improve our ability to care for ourselves, our friends and families, and for the Earth. It is a clear guide for experienced permaculturists and anyone new to permaculture, and anyone who wants to live a more creative, abundant life. People and Permaculture, will transform the context of permaculture making it relevant to everyone.

Divided into 6 parts we are guided from the personal to the bigger picture.

Part 1 – contains a detailed introduction to permaculture design and principles as applied to people.

Part 2 – looks at the tools and techniques we can use in our own lives; how we can transform our internal landscape, enhance our well-being and be at our best.

Part 3 – investigates ways of creating harmony in our relationships and groups, through our communication and decision making

Part 4 – explores a wider vision for our social systems, in particular health and education

Part 5 – moves on to explore how to expand our feelings of connection across the globe.

Part 6 – focuses on how we can manifest a positive future with the use of a new design framework specifically created for people-based designs.

Including over 50 practical activities, People & Permaculture empowers readers with tried and tested tools to initiate positive change. It is a hands-on, powerful guide to creating a sustainable world.

Reviews of People and Permaculture

This book is cause for celebration! Many of us have long hankered for the insights and principles of permaculture to be translated to serve all aspects of our lives. Looby Macnamara has been worth waiting for: she fills the bill with luminous clarity, lean eloquence, and an exquisite knowledge of systems. Her opening chapters on ‘Thinking like an Ecosystem’ should be required reading in every classroom from third grade through graduate school. And equally rewarding are her applications of permaculture to health, communication, and the life of the mind. It’s part of the genius of the book that all this, once you see it, can seem as natural as breathing.
Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self and co-author, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy

In this book Looby Macnamara uses her solid grounding in permaculture to show that its principles and thinking can help us all be effective and hopeful in an age of change and challenge. In the process she draws in kindred ideas and influences from the field of peoplecare, making a significant contribution in the on-going evolution of permaculture as a concept and a movement creating a better world.
David Holmgren, co-originator of the Permaculture concept

Looby Macnamara presents an exciting and inspiring vision for humanity in People & Permaculture. Most importantly she also equips readers with the tools and techniques needed to make this vision a reality. An enlightening handbook for those who want to change the world.
Melissa Corkhill, editor of The Green Parent magazine,

Permaculture can be defined as a way of thinking differently - here Looby explores what those ways of thinking differently are and how to use them to leverage change in our lives and communities.

Looby’s second book was published in 2014. It builds upon the lessons of People and Permaculture as well as bringing them together in a simple and accessible format. The 2 books can be read in any order.

The thoughts and actions of people past and present have determined the current state of our planet. If we change our thinking, we can change the health of our own lives, and also the future state of our world. 7 Ways to Think Differently explores ways to address personal, social and environmental concerns in simple practical steps in our daily lives, helping us to make incremental, achievable changes. As well as addressing our internal landscapes, Looby explains how individuals and communities can work together to achieve positive change. She also explores the current political and mainstream paradigms and where they are leading us.

Learn about:

• • Abundance thinking
  • Solutions thinking
  • Systems thinking
  • Thinking like nature
  • Co-operative thinking
  • Thinking for the future
  • From thought to action

These ways to think differently are influential alternatives to the current mindset and can shift us to a better present, as well as setting us on a trajectory towards a better future. This is for anyone who wants to make a difference in the world. Looby offers potent medicine for a world full of challenges.

poetry to reconnect

This is Looby’s collection of poems, based on the themes of the spiral of the Work That Reconnects; Coming from Gratitude, Honouring our Pain, Seeing with New Eyes and Going Forth. Written over a 5 year span they bring an extraordinary depth of connection and insights.

Reviews of Strands of Infinity

I am a huge fan of Looby Macnamara. Her profound insights and skill with the written word always touch me deeply. This extraordinary collection of her poetry takes us on a journey, reminding us of our great love for our Earth and our ability to create connection to the wonders of all life. She touches our deep emotions as she explores our common feelings of outrage, injustice and empathy that these present times bring, and brings us to a place of stillness, timelessness and personal empowerment. It reads like a good book, and is a veritable feast for the soul!
Glennie Kindred, Author, artist and editor of the Earth Pathways diary

Looby Macnamara’s poems are soul medicine. Read them and feel the healing effect.
Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence

Strands of Infinity is journey of words to nourish the soul: secular prayers of sacred eternity; songs of remembering, of loss, gratitude and joy; visionary mouthfuls of encouragement, freedom and possibility that remind us what it is to be fully human.
Lucy H. Pearce, author Burning Woman, Moon Time, The Rainbow Way. Founder Womancraft Publishing.