The Minimum Holistic Goal (MHG) is the most fundamental vision of desired outcomes for a given project. An MHG is the lens through which all subsequent decisions regarding the design, implementation, establishment and management of a holistic system will be tested and evaluated. Put more simply, an MHG is the compass that will guide us to the desired outcome.

You can browse through the entire Minimum Holistic Goal setting process HERE.

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A holistic context is a contextual understanding of the many factors that influence a particular site, person or project. Much like how we can deduce the meaning of a word based on the arrangement of words around it, develop a Holistic Context helps us understand the forces at work on a piece of land, on an individual, within a group, or in most cases, a mix of all three.

To tie this definition in with that of the MHG above, the Holistic Context is like all 360 degrees on a compass – the needle is influence by very single radian. We set an MHG based upon our understanding of the Holistic Context to help us navigate to a desired outcome.

Between developing a Minimum Holistic Goal and performing a Level 1 – Site Assessment an accurate picture of the many factors that influence design decisions – both visible and invisible – can be brought into an accessible and useful format, and thus create an incredibly powerful and useful tool for realizing desired outcomes.

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Every individual or group that we work with is unique. We, as designers, are tasked with helping you bring your vision to life in the landscape in a way that is simultaneously regenerative to the surrounding ecology while providing for your present and future needs. Spending time upfront, before diving into any large scale data collection, analysis or design work, to clarify the vision of what we are doing and why we are doing it will make the how of bringing it all into being vastly simpler, more efficient and enjoyable.

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A Level 2 Whole Site Design picks up where the Level 1 Site Assessment leaves off, with a significant amount of total project hours (typically ~100-140) going into the Design portion of the process. Additional base map creation with all design elements also takes a significant amount of time. A Level 2 Whole Site Design is a holistic view of your entire property with your vision mapped onto it, along with the baseline information needed to get started implementing it.

Should you decide to begin with a Level 1 and later progress to a Level 2, the cost of the Level 1 will be deducted from the Level 2.

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We generally utilize the SADIMEA framework, summarized below and in detail in our Process section.

Survey ⇒ Analysis ⇒ Design ⇒ Implementation ⇒ Maintenance ⇒ Evaluation ⇒ Adjustment

Our design approach is informed by the Keyline Scale of Permanence developed by P.A. Yeomans – or as we typically refer to it, the Scale of Impermanence. We start with the things that are relatively fixed (permanent) or expensive to change and progress towards those things that are quicker and less costly to change. In this way the broad patterns of place work to inform the actionable details of the systems implemented.

Holistic Context ⇒ Climate/Geography/History ⇒ Water ⇒ Access ⇒ Shelter & Structures ⇒ Living Systems ⇒ Boundaries ⇒ Energy ⇒ Economy ⇒ Community

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Walk & Talks: $800 + travel

Level 1 – Site Assessments: $3,000 – $4,500 + travel (generally 4-6 weeks to delivery)

Level 2 – Whole Site Design: $10,000 – $16,000 + travel (generally 6-10 weeks to delivery)

Level 3 – Element Specific Implementation Planning / Project Oversight / Hands-on Implementation: $100/designer hour, half day minimum + travel for on-site work

Travel: $50.00/designer travel hour + $.58/mile driven. Rail / Air / Sea – economy Rates, expenses covered by client.

Room And Board: For multi-day site visits room and board expenses will be covered by the client per local GSA rates.

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Part of the Holistic Context Development and Minimum Holistic Goal setting we do at the very beginning of any new consultancy explicitly covers the resources available to the project. This is critical for us to know up front, as the design recommendations we make will be tuned to the resources available or that can be obtained.

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The 7th Generation Design team can help you implement the following types of systems / elements in your design (presented here organized by the Keyline Scale of Permanence):

• Water
  • Passive Water Harvesting: Earthworks including swales, infiltration basins/pocket ponds, keyline subsoiling, earthen drains, berms, terraces, small ponds, spring development.
  • Active Water Harvesting: water storage tanks and associated plumbing, stock tanks, greywater systems
  • Erosion Control Structures: headcut repair structures, flow spreaders, flow concentrators, grade control structures, aggradation structures, drains.
  • Irrigation Systems: for annual and perennial production, livestock watering, plant propagation.
• Access
  • Wheeled Access: Low-standard road retrofits (usually in concert with erosion control structures).
  • Foot Access: various types of foot access – hardscapes, softscapes, bioscapes.
• Structures
  • Earth bag structures like fire circles, benches, garden walls etc.
• Living Systems
  • Nutrient Cycling Systems
    • Flow-through vermicomposter systems, Johnson-Su BioReactors, biochar production, bokashi composting, thermophilic composting, compost tea brewing.
  • Production Systems
    • Annual: market gardens, raised bed gardens, wicking beds.
    • Perennial: agroforestry systems like food forests, forest gardens, silvopasture, multi-species orchards, fuelwood and biomass plantings, reforestation. Grazing plans.
  • Propagation Systems: Automated Misting Beds (for propagating plants from cuttings) and Air Pruning Beds (for propagating trees and other perennials from seed).
• Energy Systems
  • Generation: Off-grid 100% DC solar systems, micro-hydro systems, micro-wind systems.
  • Storage: Battery banks and mainframe distribution wiring
  • Water Pumping
    • Mechanically-Driven Pumps: hand pumps, nose pumps, wind-driven pumps, waterwheel pumps.
    • Water-Driven Pumps: ram pumps, river pumps and bunyip pumps.
    • Electric Pumps: DC and AC

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In order for 7th Generation Design to take on installation of specific elements or systems on your land, the element in question needs to;

1. Have a net-positive effect on the overall ecosystem health of the property and its surrounds,
2. Be integrated into a larger plan – a system of systems. We don’t do one-off installations and we don’t “fight fires” and we don’t put lipstick on pigs. If there is an underlying design flaw decreasing energy efficiency and resiliency, and increasing the cost of maintaining and operating the system, we will first need to address the root cause of that friction – generally this is done through some form of Whole Site Design, whether through us, another regenerative design outfit, or done yourself.

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Generally anything you see written about here on the site, anything on our blog or within our portfolio of past projects. Any part of the Resilience Through Function Design curriculum is fair game, including the design process itself.

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