The term 'Permaculture' (PC) refers to a theory about diversified farming systems, based on an ethical attitude (worldview) and a practical design process, guided by 12 principles and flanked by a holistic sustainability concept. Invented in the wake of Australia's socio-political 'back-to-the-land' aspirations of the 1970s, PC has since developed and grown into a diverse international grassroot movement. It can be considered a rural as well as an urban socio-cultural phenomenon that revolves around non-commercial gardening, for example urban community projects, or around farming for self-sufficiency, for instance in eco-villages. This paper intends to investigate which aspects of PC may be scalable to commercial farming whilst identifying PC aspects already implemented in commercial (organic) agriculture (OA). It analyses a current business case led by a German wholesaler of organic produce who worked in cooperation with a German supermarket chain to create the first nationwide PC label. To this end, the paper describes the degree of overlap between two organic farming certification schemes and the case study. As opposed to certified OA, PC is less prescriptive, using a deductive and inductive approach instead. It may expand scope and flexibility required for farm redesign towards improved resilience, reaching out to the landscape level. The productiveness of PC in commercial settings needs to be established further, such as best practices in soil regeneration and monitoring as well as the reduction of soil losses, or the valuation of added ecosystem services such as promotion of (agro-)biodiversity.

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