By Chris Gilmour
Jan. 10th, 2025
What if disaster preparedness wasn’t just about survival but also about creating thriving communities, new income streams and opportunities for permaculture designers, and a more regenerative future?
By blending permaculture principles with emergency management, we can redefine how we prepare for and respond to crises, turning challenges into opportunities for regenerative design and resilience.
In this article, I’ll share how a permaculture background can open doors in disaster preparedness, building personal and professional skills (and income-generating opportunities), all while building stronger, more interconnected communities. There are also some suggestions on how to get started.
Permaculture has the potential to transform the way we grow food, build homes, and work with energy. It also has the potential to make emergency management and disaster preparedness more regenerative and holistic.
Part 1: Permaculture to Preparedness
My journey began with a question during a permaculture apprenticeship at 7 Ravens Farm under Michael Nickels: How can I know if our farming is truly regenerative without a deep understanding of the ecosystems we inhabit?
This question launched a multi-year quest to develop ecological knowledge by studying ancestral skills, knowledge, and lifeways from around the globe, including here on Turtle Island.
Learning wilderness survival techniques and naturalist skills deepened my connection to the land, but I soon wondered how to scale these insights for modern communities facing climate change.
Inspired by the growing urgency of preparedness, I pursued emergency management training and began volunteering. These experiences led to a role at a consulting firm, where I worked with hospitals and government agencies on emergency exercises.
While this work was rewarding, I saw gaps where modern emergency management could learn from Permaculture—rooting preparedness in ecological principles, community resilience and regenerative design practices.
This inspired me to go out independently and begin offering consulting services for farms, eco-villages, summer camps, festivals and organizations, focusing on Holistic Emergency.
Preparedness inspired by Permaculture.
Part 2: What Work Opportunities Exist in Emergency Management & Disaster Preparedness?
There are many different pathways and opportunities when it comes to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Whether you are looking to open up a new income stream within your current permaculture consulting, find a full-time job, or volunteer to help make your community or local organizations more disaster-ready, here are some ideas for pathways you could explore:
1) Supporting NGOs, Non-Profits, Eco-Villages and Small Businesses Prepare for Change.
Many organizations realize they have a role in the community when disasters strike. It helps to start planning ahead of time to play that role. These same organizations will also have unique concerns and may need support in getting plans and training together.
Some of the services I offer as part of my practice (and with the right training, you could, too), include:
- Staff training in emergency management principles and emergency response
- Run mock emergency disasters to see how groups perform under real disaster situations.
- Creating in-depth emergency management plans for events and organizations
- Writing emergency response policies and guidelines for organizations
2) Utilizing Climate Change Grants for Your Current Organization.
Depending on where you live, grants may be available for NGOs and Non-profits to engage in efforts to address climate change. A few organizations I worked with hired me under funding from these grants.
If you already work or volunteer with an organization, consider applying for grants to support your disaster preparedness efforts and capacity within the organization.
3) A Full-Time Job in Emergency Management.
For those looking for a first or new career path, there is also the option of getting a full-time position doing this work with an existing organization.
There are full-time government jobs focused on Emergency management at all levels of Government.
Many larger organizations and even some NGOs are recognizing the need to hire people for these roles, and they are sometimes bridged with traditional health and safety roles. Some organizations and businesses also have health and safety divisions.
Any certifications or experience in this field will look good on a resume if you apply for such positions.
Part 3: How to Get Started in Holistic Emergency Preparedness
This field may seem daunting if you do not have professional experience in emergency preparedness or health and safety.
However, I always remind people that personal life experience can often be applied across disciplines and fields.
Suppose you naturally find yourself interested in topics such as this and already planning and preparing for climate change. In that case, that mindset may transfer to more professional work.
Of course, having an interest and the right mindset does not qualify you to do the work.
Disaster preparedness is not a game, and real lives, infrastructure, and the ecology of this planet are all on the line.
Thus, you must have enough training and experience to feel confident that your suggestions and work are of true value and have been field-tested in real scenarios, not just hypothetical ones.
Here are some suggestions of ways to start building your resume and skill set:
- Take personal preparedness seriously and begin to help your household, family, community, and neighborhood become better prepared. This can include creating emergency plans, such as an emergency communications plan, acquiring emergency gear and kits, and organizing meetings and get-togethers. Don’t underestimate how much you will learn from starting at home and in your own neighborhood.
- Look into Emergency management certifications. These can often be taken through weekend, night or online classes through emergency management agencies (ex, FEMA, Red Cross, Emergency Management Ontario) or community colleges. I took several continuing studies programs through a community college when I was getting started. Several of these also offered provincially recognized certificates. A few good ones to consider are:
- ICS – Incendt Command System 100 & 200 certifications
- Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
- A course and Hazard Identification & Risk assessment (HIRA)
- Advanced first aid certifications such as the Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA)
Join Earth Activist Training for Our Next 6-week online Emergency & Disaster Planning course.
This course empowers you to approach disaster prevention, mitigation, and community response through a permaculture lens that honours natural systems and acknowledges the social inequities that often shape modern emergency management.
We’ll guide you through principles and tools to create customized solutions for your unique community and environment while building your resume and employable Permaculture skill set.
Beyond learning practical frameworks used by governments and NGOs, this course is a call to action—to step into a role where your values of sustainability, justice, and collaboration can create meaningful change.
Join us to build a future where preparedness isn’t just about survival but about cultivating hope, equity, and resilience for all.