Permaculture Design Certificate & ReVILLAGEing Family Camp!
July 6 – 20, 2025
O.U.R. Ecovillage
Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada
O.U.R. Ecovillage has been teaching this certificate course for decades and is privileged to team up with the Earth Activist teaching team and international learning community for the last 15 years. AND NOW….we are bringing in a whole next level experiential permaculture journey!! We are asking you to ‘Go Village’ with us….to ‘decolonize design’…..to step somewhat outside the conventional 72 hour design certificate program…..and take this transformational journey with a very diverse group of intercultural/intergenerational/interfaith/inter-nation learners this summer!!!
It is our shared commitment to bring together:
- The knowledge and resources of regenerative ecological design to communities with the greatest needs and fewest resources
- Visionary and practical solutions and personal sustainability to social/cultural change activists, and to teach practical skills, organizing, and activism to visionaries
- The political, environmental, and spiritual movements that seek peace, justice, and resilience
- To reSTORY our relationality with climate change and critical issues of these days….and to step forward differently in these certainly uncertain days.
- To build from a Traditional Knowledge and wisdom pathway forward into building our collective response and response-ability to emergency planning/disaster maangement.
- Experiences which frame and model “Peacemaking / Restorative Justice” as part of governance and community processes.
- the practices of J.E.D.I. (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusiveness) through all that we live, love and design together…..
CERTIFICATION
Participants who complete this course will receive a Permaculture Design Certificate, accredited by P.I.N.A. and globally recognized as the entry portal to the world of permaculture design.
O.U.R. Ecovillage is part of the wider weave of Permaculture Design teachings in the world and are accredited through the Permaculture Institute of North America – P.I.N.A. By completing certification through P.I.N.A. you are joining a global movement which:
- Honours and works with the Indigenous lands and teachings of Peoples that we are each privileged to share space/place (and often be on the stolen lands) with.
- Elevates the status and impact of Permaculture by influencing public policy and private development to improve the quality of life for all
- Brings permaculture solutions to bear on the challenges of social justice, land regeneration, and climate cooling
- Promotes permaculture pathways to professional development
- Grants diplomas recognizing excellence and achievement
- Preserves the integrity and quality of the Permaculture Design Course
- Facilitates networking among permaculturists
This course is for you if you are ready to:
- Embark on new environmental design practices
- Find ways of dramatically reducing energy consumption and changing your lifestyle
- Begin land-based ventures & small businesses
- Realize goals towards self-sufficiency, homesteading, and a next level of DYI
- Learn Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and carbon accounting
- Find your way into ‘Resilient Community/Lifestyle Design’
- Understand that we each have an important role to play in co-creating the future
In this introductory workshop OUR Ecovillage will focus on organizing, activating, and educating through on the ground permaculture projects. Learn how we design human systems that mimic natural systems using a minimum of energy and resources and how to create real abundance and social/environmental justice. Explore the strategies and organizing tools we need to make our visions real, as well as the daily practice, magic, and processes that sustain our spirits.
This course is unique from almost all others in North America as you are stepping into O.U.R. Ecovillage – a 25 acre Sustainable Living Demonstration, Research and Education Centre.
Through partnering with all levels of government, corporate sponsors, academia, and the grassroots of the wider community projects & organizations, O.U.R. Ecovillage has managed to bring together a range of professionals, permaculture teachers, regulatory folks, and technical stakeholders ready to train others in the next stages of how permaculture projects can become fully legal.
Topics covered in this course:
- 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
Investment
Course Cost: $2,345 CAD
(approximately $1,750 USD)
Fees include the full program, basic accommodations*, meals, and snacks.
*Basic Accommodations include either bunk-bed in our gender-inclusive dorm room or a camping site. Specifics of your choice & space assignment will be coordinated after registration and before arrival.
Get in touch if you are interested in semi-private or private accommodations options. events@ourecovillage.org
About OUR Ecovillage
OUR land offers plenty of space to camp, dorms, private rooms, and interesting suites. There are diverse natural buildings to see and we have spaces for gatherings of different flavors: a large Yurt (great for circles and dancing), a large Community Classroom (for presentations), the Healing Sanctuary (for quiet conversation and meditation), many various natural buildings, the 150 person Zero Mile Eatery, and the Chillage (casual covered outdoor space). There are multiple types of indoor and outdoor showers, composting toilets. For some quiet time you can walk the labyrinth, sit by the pond or take a walk in the woods. You will likely see chickens, ducks, sheep, cows, deer, and much more.
If you have any questions about the booking process, or to confirm your booking, please call us at 250-812-8782 or email events@ourecovillage.org
Related courses:
- Introduction to Permaculture ( 2.5 days)
- Permaculture Teaching Assistant Training (for certified permaculture graduates only)
- Permaculture Design Upgrade (for certified permaculture graduates only)
Starhawk
Starhawk is a permaculture designer, teacher, and founder of Earth Activist Training, which teaches regenerative design with a grounding in spirit and a focus on organizing and activism. She is the author of thirteen books on earth based spirituality and activism, including The Spiral Dance, The Earth Path, and The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, The Fifth Sacred Thing and City of Refuge. Together with director Donna Read Cooper, she has worked on five major documentaries, including the Goddess Trilogy for the National Film Board of Canada and Permaculture: The Growing Edge.
Starhawk directs and teaches Earth Activist Training and has been recognized by the Permaculture Institute of North America as a leading figure in the permaculture field and has been awarded PINA’s dual diplomas for excellence in education and permaculture site design.
Hiinahcit, Petrina Dezall, Mowachaht, Nuu Chah Nulth
Hiinahcit is an educator in Land-Based learning and Decolonizing Permaculture with a focus on Self Determination and Sovereignty through project managing medicinal gardens, food forests, seed collecting and revitalizing harvesting protocols building internation relationships.
Being raised with Nuu-chah-nulth traditional plant knowledge she eventually found her niche growing plants and medicine while learning Western Herbal Medicine with Wild Rose College. She continued her Herbal Medicine education in Washington State learning Alchemic Herbalism through The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, then moved forward with deepening her land-based knowledge from Earth Activist
Training where she became PIMA certified in Permaculture and now co- teaches in-person Certificate trainings with her mentors. Hiinahcit’s hobbies include harvesting, falconry and painting. Her current artwork can be viewed in the Exhibition “The Legacy of George Clutesi” in contract with RBCM and UVIC Legacy Collections currently showing at The Bill Reid Gallery.
www.hiinahcit.com
James Matthew Richardson, Ph.D.; M.A.S.L.A; B.Ed.; B.Sc. (Hon); P.D.C.; P.Dip. (Research); P.D.C. (Education)
James Richardson is a teacher, designer, builder, farmer and cultivator of social change. His research in sustainable food system planning explored some fundamental questions such as what it would take to feed the city of Vancouver and his PhD in resilient regional planning utilized Ecological Footprinting to redesign Wellington, NZ. He brings an experiential flare to his teachings following a dynamic teaching career in Canada, New Zealand, Guyana, and the United States. James is a student of Permaculture, natural building, biodynamic farming and brings to the space a deep understanding of the art and science of sustainability.
Brandy Gallagher
Brandy Gallagher is a founder and developer of O.U.R. Ecovillage. Her life work has been focused around the development of the ‘Decolonizing of Sustainable Community.’ A designer and educator, she has worked with local and international community builders to create the 25 acres Sustainable Living Demonstration Site and Education Centre.
From ‘Comprehensive Development’ land use re-zoning to incorporating holistic new ownership structures, from governance to building codes, from wastewater to closed-loop systems approval – her commitment has been to ‘Lawful Permaculture’ within the Ecovillage and “re-village” movement.
Charles Williams (Guest Teacher online)
Charles, a certified permaculture designer, comes to EAT through a love of the wild, faith that healthy communities can solve complex problems, and a belief that working with one’s hands is sacred work.
Over the past two decades he has stewarded many pieces of land throughout the United States. His approach simultaneously promotes both preservation of wild spaces and conservation of the domestic. His deep respect for and relationship with the divine in nature informs all he does, integrating spiritual practices with land management.
Brandon Bauer (Guest Teacher)
Brandon has been a lead teacher, facilitator, and educator in the study of Permaculture Design around the world since the year 2002. He has been actively working to facilitate learning of Permaculture Design in ways which respond to the urgent needs of these days of great challenge, and strives to build food/community sovereignty in applied project development. From his homebase on Saltspring Island, to longstanding training in New Zealand, Bullock Brothers Farm School (Lopez, WA), OUR Ecovillage (Vancouver Island, BC), to international partnering in Kenya/Zimbabwe/Haiti and to _____, he has contributed his heart and care in innovative ways. He is a naturalist, organic farmer, biodiversity specialist, seed saver, herbalist, and soil scientist. Brandon sees permaculture as one of the most inspiring and action-focused ways to live. He continues to practice what he teaches farming on Salt Spring Island, supporting local food and enjoying many lakes of the island with his family.
OUR Ecovillage is proud to work collaboratively with Brandon since 2004 and values his deep level of land-knowing both in the space of OUR school and the world wide Village!
Mark Lakeman (Guest Teacher)
Mark is a national leader in the development of sustainable public places. In the last decade he has directed, facilitated, or inspired designs for more than three hundred new community-generated public places in Portland, Oregon alone.
Through his leadership in Communitecture, Inc., and it’s various affiliates such as the The City Repair Project, The Village Building Convergence, and the Planet Repair Institute, he has also been instrumental in the development of dozens of participatory organizations and urban permaculture design projects across the United States and Canada. Mark works with governmental leaders, community organizations, and educational institutions in many diverse communities.
gracelynn Chung-yan Lau (Guest Teacher)
Chris Gilmour (Guest Teacher)
Emergency & Disaster Planning Chris is a student and teacher of ecology, survival, self-reliance, and the relationship between Nature and the human potential. Chris learned permaculture to grow his own food, herbal medicine, and remote back-country first aid. In partnership with his wife, Laura, they built a modern day homestead and helped create a nonprofit organization that helps kids and families reconnect with the land. He has:
- Helped build several organizations and businesses from the ground up,
- Taught for colleges, public and private schools and designed curriculum at all levels,
- Consulted in emergency preparedness with large and small businesses, governments, farms and camps
- Provided training and mentoring in ecology, nature awareness, leadership skills and self-reliance though his business Chris Outdoors.
His offerings bridge a deep understanding of ecology, community and culture with emergency preparedness, holistic business practices and healthy human development.
O.U.R. Commitment to Decolonizing Permaculture and Truth and Reconciliation
Healing of the people MUST include healing of the land.
What is a land acknowledgment and why do we start each circle doing one? We begin our gatherings by recognizing the longstanding history of the land where we each reside. We name the Indigenous Peoples who belong to the land and to whom the land belongs, and draw attention to the ongoing reality of occupation and settler colonialism.
As we begin any process towards healing the land, we must know the history of the land, and who is part of the land we want to heal. We do this to aim our efforts and intentions towards supporting Indigenous communities, and to inspire others to do the same.
Learn more about Indigenous Peoples of the land you occupy here.
