Caring Earth, Caring People, Shared Present

Permaculture pathways beyond sustainability in Sardinia

Authors

  • Maria Giovanna Cassa University of Sassari

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v13i1.1776

Keywords:

Sardinia, Permaculture, Diverse economies, Ethnography, relatedness, alternative economy, sustainability culture

Abstract

The article reflects on how permaculture offers a framework for signifying sustainability on a daily basis, focusing on practices and projects carried out by permaculturists in Sardinia. Three ethics of permaculture—earth care, people care, and fair share—emerge as pivotal in driving actions and choices. Projects are modelled on an ecological resilience-oriented model mimicking nature, which allows for structuring the world based on relationships that can address growing environmental concerns. Through ethnographic examples of wheat production and customs among visiting friends, the article illustrates how nature serves as a model for people, merging with local agro-pastoral traditions and claims to island identity. In Sardinia, permaculturists’ ethical orientation towards every living and non-living element of the system combines with local cultural customs, in a shift from agricoltura to agricultura. This alternative ontology based on relatedness blurs the boundaries between human and non-human and between past, present, and future. Caring for humans thus becomes caring for soils, microbes, vegetation, winds, and rain; caring for future generations means fairly sharing the world between humans and non-humans in the present.

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Author Biography

  • Maria Giovanna Cassa, University of Sassari

    Dr Maria Giovanna Cassa is a professional social worker who earned her doctorate in Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Milano-Bicocca. She was previously an adjunct professor at the University of Brescia before moving to Sardinia to participate in a multidisciplinary collaborative research project on the traditional game, Sa Murra, at the University of Sassari. Her work seeks to promote a deeper dialogue between the humanities and ‘hard’ science and between academics and local communities. Her research focuses on the intersection between environmental anthropology, permaculture, and social integration.

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Published

2026-03-06

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026): Special Issue: Sustainability Cultures

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Giovanna Cassa

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