Holocene Design spent two years, between 1994 and 1996, in Lesotho and South Africa.
Lesotho is a mountainous kingdom roughly the size of Wales, completely landlocked by the Republic of South Africa. With a population of 2 1/2 million people, it is the only country in the world with all of its land mass 1000 metres elevation or higher, and has hot summers with erratic rainfall and very cold, dry winters. Only ten percent of the land is arable and there is only one major paved road. There is a high level of dependency on foreign aid, 90 percent of food is imported and the largest export is manpower to work in the mines of South Africa.
We were involved in projects ranging from the design of very affordable housing schemes, ecological vernacular housing, office buildings and permaculture based school grounds, to running 5 full permaculture design courses for professionals in education and extension work. Our design work involved maximizing participation in the design and visioning process.