Project Concept: "To establish a model project of sustainable arid land development, demonstrating that all the basic needs for a healthy, meaningful, peaceful lifestyle can be affordable, understood and achieved by poor local people. The project site is typical marginal arid land settled by poor people of the area. It will feature demonstrations of energy efficient appropriate housing with natural cooling systems and a plant nursery attachment, solar electricity, solar hot water, biological waste water treatment recycling, dry compost toilet, rain water harvesting earthworks, diverse inter-active plant animal and tree systems for local food production and processing.The demonstration house will function as a classroom, administration office for the project and the local community permaculture group. Once established the project will serve as a model that can be replicated throughout Jordan and other counties in the region."

Brief Project Description: The Permaculture Research Institute has already purchased the land using a donation fund, the site is in the Jordan Valley also known as The Dead Sea Valley on the edge of and between the two villages of Al Jawfa and Al Jawasreh with the intention of setting up a demonstration site and education centre of an appropriate size, cost and style that would be achievable and acceptable for the local people. Geoff Lawton (Dir, PRI) has been working in the area since 1999 and designed and directed a 3 year project funded by JICCA. A short video of this project can be seen online, and the pictures above show the dramatic before-and-after results of this work."

Jordan Valley Permaculture Project

Location: The Dead Sea Valley in Jordan
Start Date: March, 2008
Expected Completion Date: March, 2011