Berlin
Permacomputing
Meet
Up

Permacomputing is a more sustainable approach to computer and network technology inspired by permaculture. It is both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regeneration in digital technology. In a time where computing epitomizes industrial waste, permacomputing encourages a less destructive approach by maximizing hardware lifespans and minimizing energy use with already available computational resources. We want to find out how we can maintain good relations with the Earth and each other by learning from ecological systems to leverage and re-center existing technologies and practices. We are also interested in what permacomputing ways of living can look like, and what sort of transformative computational cultures and aesthetics it could bring forward. We invite everyone to join us for an informal discussion of ideas and real-world practices around Permacomputing in and around Berlin, Germany.

Who comes to the meetings?

Our group aspires to be as inclusive as possible. If Permacomputing is to be a part of the global struggle to define a more just, representative and ecological digital culture, we will need to have as many friends and allies as possible. And while Permacomputing has a strong appeal to experienced practitioners of software and electronics work, we want to attract people from backgrounds and communities that are less "nerd-identified". It's often the case that simpler "low-tech" solutions are less energy intensive as well as easier to understand and maintain.  So we try to ensure that when the discussions get rather technical, we always try to bring the talk back to real practices that we can explain to anyone with the curiosity to learn.

We also realize that computing has, for far too long, been dominated by a small group of people with a specific cultural background. Less destructive, more locally-situated practices of digital culture will need visions and concepts from outside the typical coding and engineering circles. It is imperative to incorporate methods of craft and technique, forms of knowledge and principles of organizing and social life that come from our own everyday lives.

The Berlin Permacomputing Meet-Up was initiated by Brendan Howell in 2024. You can get in touch via email or on the fediverse.

There is a lot of general info, both practical and philosophical on the PMC Wiki.