TOPIA: The Sustainable Learning Community Institute at
O.U.R. ECOVILLAGE
Proudly presents
Permaculture Design Certificate Course
“Fundamentals of Permaculture”
9th August (PM) - 23rd August (AM), 2009
Costs: Residential (includes meals & accommodations) $1400
Non-Residential $1200
please send your $250 deposit with your application
Course location: O.U.R. ECOVILLAGE, 1565 Baldy Mountain Rd, Shawnigan Lake, BC
Course Description and Content
The Permaculture Design Course is a 72 hour intensive course combining theory with practical hands on learning. Participants will learn Permaculture design principles & techniques. The course includes lectures, discussions, hands-on, slide shows, field trips and design projects. We will examine the underlying assumptions of the current culture of consumerism and economic globalization, and encourage exploration of ways to contribute to the emergence of a culture of sustainability, compassion and equity. The Permaculture Design Certificate course covers a broad range of subjects to provide a holistic overview of Permaculture systems and sustainable living. Some of the topics/ themes to be covered:
Some of the topics/ themes to be covered:
+ Evidence for change & the ethics of sustainability
+ Principles of Permaculture
+ Observation & landscape analysis
+ Ecological planning & design methods
+ Organic food production and food security
+ Climatic factors in design
+ Soils: Natural soil improvement
+ Integrated animal systems
+ Water: harvesting, conservation,and management
+ Agroforestry & forest gardening
+ Appropriate technologies & renewable energy systems
+ Mapping & design exercises
+ Techniques and design strategies for both urban & rural applications
+ Ecovillages & sustainable human settlements
Permaculture Design Course Graduates
“Permaculture” is a copyrighted word. Only upon satisfactory completion of this course is an internationally recognized “Certificate of Permaculture Design” issued. Graduates are then eligible to use Permaculture in the promotion of designs, teaching and landscaping. Following at least two years of applied work, you are eligible to apply for a Diploma of Permaculture Design through the International Permaculture Institute.
Course Objectives & Learning Outcomes
* Learn about harmonious integration of land and people in such a way that the needs of food, energy and shelter are met without diminishing the natural world
* Develop design skills including mapping, site analysis and assessment, and site design
* Develop ecological observation skills, learning to arrange and design landscapes that work in symbiosis with nature’s rhythms
* Understand and apply Permaculture design, organic gardening, and natural building techniques into the creation of a Permaculture design project
* Experience & learn about the critical skills of observing, listening, opening and receiving
Students who complete this course will be able to assess human landscapes and dwellings and then provide design solutions towards living sustainably. With practice and mentorship students will develop design skills that may lead to a meaningful livelihood. All students who complete this certification course leave with a much deeper understanding of their impact on the planet and each other, and with the critical thinking skills to lessen or improve that impact.
Participants from over 60 countries in all regions of the world and from all walks of life have called the Permaculture Design Course “ life-changing , transformative, and enormously affirming”. In the lively company of a diverse group of engaged and motivated women and men with a common interest in the future of humanity, learning is rapid, multidimensional, and long lasting.
Following the course, people have accomplished the following:
* Embarked on new farming practices
* Found ways of dramatically reducing energy consumption
* Begun land-based ventures & small businesses such as: Nurseries, landscape design consultancies, etc.
* Realized goals towards self-sufficiency
City dwellers have found that even with little or no land, Permaculture shows them how to work with their home to produce food, reduce energy needs, live more ecologically and in closer connection with their communities. Educators, farm adviser’s, international development workers, garden directors, builders, master gardeners, and landscape architects have all reported that what they’ve learned in this course has become a foundation for their work. Farmers, nursery owners, foresters and livestock farmers have all found that Permaculture design has multiplied their incomes, reduced their work, and improved the health of their stock.
O.U.R. teaching team has included:
Brandon Bauer of the Blue Raven Farm on Salt Spring Island, Geoff Johnson from Victoria, Elke Cole of Cobworks, Jan Steinman from EcoReality, members of O.U.R. Ecovillage and other special guests from the bioregion
