Permaculture Design Course
25th of May - 6th June 2021
28th August - 9th September 2021
Calabria, Italy
72 hours Permaculture Design Certificate
If COVID-19 restrictions will not allow the course to happen you will receive FULL REFUND!
Course Overview
Building soil – Building community – Building resilience
No previous experience is required! Just openness and willingness to become part fo the regeneration movement!
Permaculture is a design method for sustainable human settlements that aims at integrating human activities in fully functioning ecosystems able to self regulate and support Life in all its forms.
Its core ethics are Care for the Earth, Care for the People and Fair Share and its principles allow us to live a regenerative life and can be applied to any environment, from small apartments to big lands to entire countries. Most importantly, Permaculture is a real philosophy of life that can support you as an individual to make conscious choices to reconnect to a true way of living. You are not separate from what is around you and stepping back into the web of life is the best choice we can make!
What is a Permaculture Design Course?
This is a 72 hours certified course that covers all aspects of Permaculture as detailed by Bill Mollison (co-founder of the movement and author of "Permaculture: a designer's manual"). The course will touch all elements required to design a complete human settlement and will include topics such as food production, resource management, project management, soil, agroforestry, animal systems, appropriate technology, people systems and social Permaculture.
The course will include a final design project and
the handover of the PDC certificate upon completion
and presentation of the final design.
The program
During the course, we will explore the following topics:
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE
• Permaculture: Evidence that we need to act - Ethics & Principles
• Concepts and themes in design: Natural ecosystems - Web of life - Yield and Resource -
• Design Methods: Observation - Analysis of elements - Flow analysis - Maps & data overlay - Zones & sectors - Slope & aspect - Guilds - Scale of permanence
• Patterns: Understanding natural patterns and how to use the in design
TREES, WATER, SOIL & ENERGY
• Climatic factors: Main climatic zones and their characteristics - Climatic factors - Climatic effects Landscape profiles
• Trees: Trees and their role in the ecosystem
• Water: Water cycle - Water in the landscape - Strategies for water management
• Soils: Soil composition - Soil management - Compost - Nutrient management and closed loops - Animals in the landscape
• Earthworks: Design - Tools - Types of earthworks (swales, dams etc..)
• Agroforestry & Food Forests: Natural forests and natural succession - Food forests - Layers - Greening the Desert
• Appropriate Technology: Renewable energy - Compost toilets - Eco-buildings - Waste management
DESIGN STRATEGIES AND SOCIAL PERMACULTURE
• Climates: Strategies for different climates
• Social Permaculture: Project management - Group dynamics - Non-violent communication - Local economies - Community living & Ecovillages
FINAL PROJECT
All students will do a group project simulating the design for a client. The project will be presented at the end of the course and will be a great opportunity for the student to metabolise the newly-acquired knowledge and receive feedback from the teacher
The Venue
The course will be held in a beautiful project located in Paterno Calabro, in the region of Calabria south of Italy. The venue of the course is involved in many regenerative activities including an organic farm, a research centre and one of the few eco-building companies in Italy. The project is very active in Permaculture and is one of the few places visited by Geoff Lawton for the reactivation of an abandoned village through Permaculture design. The abandoned village will be visited during one of the free afternoons. Moreover, the site hosts the biggest, legally recognised, adobe eco-building in Europe!
Cost
Tent space
450 euros if booked before the 18th of April 2021
550 euros if booked after
Normal accommodation
890 euros if booked before the 18th of April 2021
990 euros if booked after
Prices include:
- Full accommodation
- 3 meals a day
- Access to showers and facilities
- International Permaculture Design Certificate upon completion of the course
- Practical workshops
- Opportunity to spend time on an active site, who has built the biggest legally recognised eco-building in Europe!
Want to join?
Fill in the form at the end of this page and send me a message to book your spot!