Design Certificate Course – Hands-On

The Permaculture Design Certificate Course is a training utilizing the teachings of Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Design System. The goal is to achieve a working understanding in ecologically-based planning, site design and management.

Areas covered during a Permaculture course include:

Permaculture principles
Concepts and themes in design
The local ecosystem
Forms of eco-gardening and farming
Broad scale site design
The application of specific methods, laws and principles to design
Pattern understanding
Climatic factors
Plants and trees and their energy interactions
Water, soils, earth-working and earth resources
Zone and sector analysis
Food forests and small animal husbandry
Harvest and natural forests

Aquaculture
Planning the homestead
Structures
Craftwork and chores
Equipment, tools and vehicles
Renewable energy and energy conservation
Waste management and recycling
Permaculture strategies for different climates
Urban and suburban Permaculture
Small farm and garden management and marketing
Strategies of an alternative global nation
Practical work on design

We offer four different Permaculture Design Certificate trainings:

Standard PDC Twelve Day Training: this is the original format designed by Bill Mollison for the 72 hour course.

Standard PDC Eight Day Training: because of time constraints for most folks (a twelve day course stretches out over two weeks) this training runs Saturday through Saturday (one week) and includes required pre-course study materials that must be completed prior to attending classes at the the educational site.

Wild Permaculture: Permaculture Seen Through the Eyes of the Hunter-Gatherer (three day introductory training or eight day field course): The keys to Permaculture lie mainly in our ability to observe the landscape, to identify and utilize the resources at hand, located outside the backdoor. The hunter-gatherer relies completely on his ability to read the lay of the land and gather what is needed for food, medicine and utility. A hunter-gatherer gardener gathers plants and animals from the wild, fibers, building materials, water, etc., and creates the practical devices needed for sustenance, warmth and pleasure. This course, “Wild Permaculture”, is a complete Permaculture Design Certificate course and takes place completely outdoors through the lifeways and folkways of the hunter-gatherer.

This course is about complete immersion in the local landscape.

We cover the entire Permaculture course curriculum from this perspective: PC methodologies and principles, observation, pattern understanding, climate, soils, water, etc.

Examples:

Studying local native traditions and life ways in order to become familiar with the local region

Observation: tracking animals and reading the landscape

Animals: tracking, hunting, making traps, making bow and arrows, etc.

Gardening: identifying, harvesting and preparing wild edible plants

Aquaculture: making fishing equipment (hooks, lines, etc) and fishing, gutting and preparing fish for cooking

Shelter: building using local materials found at the site; constructing a primitive village paying attention to orientation for passive solar, mass and insulation, etc.

The waste stream: where to poop and pee

Invisible structures: the tribe and local tribal custom

The origins of agriculture and pastoralism

The Three Epochs of Humanity Permaculture Design Certificate Course (twelve days)

The Three Epochs of Humanity Permaculture Design Certificate Course contains the creative and experiential application of living skills passed down by our ancestors into the present time and beyond. The three areas of concentration are: 1) The Hunter-Gatherer Lifestyle; 2) Agricultural Settlement and pastoralism; 3) Appropriate Technology and the Ecological Epoch. The Three Epochs is designed to teach students to utilize what is available in the immediate landscape in a conscious and ecologically astute manner. By learning from the ground up we immerse ourselves in living history where knowledge and hand skills come together in an integrated, healthy fashion.