Eduardo Terzidis
Permaculture Design Course
in Portugal
72 hours Permaculture Design Certificate
With Nick Steiner and Eduardo Terzidis
Online theory + one week hands on in Portugal!
This course will be half online and half live, giving students the opportunity to spend a whole week practicing on the land! PDCs are usually very theory intensive, and this format will allow you to have plenty of time to get your hands dirty and learn the theory from the comfort of your home!
Online part begins 8th of May 2023 (check full schedule below)
Online classes can be followed with your own timing through recordings!
Live part 1st-7th july 2023
@Pachawa, Alentejo, Portugal
You can also join the practical week only, more info here!
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?
Permaculture is a philosophy and practice of ecological design that doesn’t tell you what to do – it teaches you how to think. In the study of Permaculture, we challenge the current paradigm of where our food and water come from, the way we are constructing our villages and towns, and how we live our day-to-day. Our Permaculture Design Course graduates have gone on to become change-makers all over the world, designing their own land projects, founding eco-communities, redesigning their businesses, spearheading policy change, and continuing to teach the permaculture principles and ethics.
The Permaculture Design Course is the foundational curriculum to all regenerative practices. This 72+ hours course covers all the basic principles of the earth sciences in relation to human impact, reviews bioregional strategies for ecosystem rehabilitation and resilience, concepts in environmentally appropriate home design, and tools for individual and community development.
The course covers strategies for all ecosystems, while hands-on projects will be location specific. The PDC teaches pattern recognition as well as evaluation tools for impact. Rooted in the Core Ethics and Principles of Permaculture, these concepts can be applied to all areas of life, including wellness, business, education, spirituality, the arts and of course food production.
The program
The online part of this Permaculture Design Course course will be divided into modules (see dates below). At the beginning of every module we will have a live video call to introduce the new topics and give you the opportunity to ask questions. After the introductory video call, you will be given access to the videos of the module and will have time until the following call to complete the recorded classes.
Apart from the live sessions, all videos can be watched at your own pace! Each module will include a total of around 12 hours of videos. Introductory calls last around 1 hour. Recordings of the live sessions will be available too in case you cannot join.
MODULE 1 - INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE (Online)
8th - 21st May 2023
(Introductory call will be on the 8th of May at 7 pm CET)
• 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
MODULE 2 - CLIMATES, TREES & WATER
22nd May - 4th June 2023
(Introductory call will be on the 22nd May at 7 pm CET)
• Climatic factors: Main climatic zones and their characteristics - Climatic factors - Climatic effects Landscape profiles
• Trees: Trees and their role in the ecosystem
• Agroforestry & Food Forests: Natural forests and natural succession - Food forests - Layers - Greening the Desert
MODULE 3 - WATER, SOILS & ANIMALS
5th - 18th June 2023
(Introductory call will be on the 5th of June at 7 pm CET)
• Water: Water cycle - Water in the landscape - Strategies for water management
• Earthworks: Design - Tools - Types of earthworks (swales, dams etc..)
• Soils: Soil composition - Soil management - Compost - Nutrient management and closed loops - Animals in the landscape
• Animal management: Strategies for Regenerative Animal Management - Small Animals - Introduction to Holistic Grazing
MODULE 4 - APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL PERMACULTURE
19th - 30th June 2023
(Introductory call will be on the 19th of June at 7 pm CET)
• Appropriate Technology: Renewable energy - Compost toilets - Eco-buildings - Waste management
• Social Permaculture: Project management - Group dynamics - Non-violent communication - Local economies - Community living & Ecovillages
HANDS ON (Live)
1st - 7th July 2023, @Pachawa, Alentejo, Portugal
During this week, students will meet in Portugal and will have the opportunity of asking questions and putting theory into practice. The activities that we will carry out during this week will include some of the following:
- Implementing and maintaining regenerative agroforestry systems
- Earthworks: designing and implementing a swale system
- Designing and implementing a grey water system
- Compost making
- Natural building
The exact activities will vary according to weather and group's requirements. During the hands on part of the course, students will stay at Pachawa, a regenerative project in the south of Portugal. Practical activities will happen on the land of Pachawa as well as on my own land.
MODULE 5 - FINAL PROJECTS & PRESENTATIONS
8th - 23rd July
(project presentations will happen on the weekend of the 22nd - 23rd of July)
To be able to provide an international PDC certificate, the course will include a final design project. All students will do a project simulating the design for a client. The project will be presented at the end of the online permaculture design course and will be a great opportunity for the students to metabolise the newly-acquired knowledge and receive feedback from the teacher.
The hand over of the final designs will be organised with the teachers, who will provide feedback before delivering the certificate.
The Facilitators
Eduardo Terzidis is a permaculture teacher and consultant, a writer and a yoga teacher. As an engineer, he wanted to help the world, yet he felt the need to “be out there”, learning and sharing with the very people who seek the same change he envisioned. At the core of his work is the understanding that global change needs to be carried from the inside out, recognising the intricate web of which we are part and being able to play our role in support of all life. Today he focuses on water management and agroforestry for mediterranean and provides 1:1 sessions to individuals to support them in manifesting their mission and dreams.
Nick Steiner is extremely passionate about exploring, developing, and sharing ways of regenerating the world around us. His focus is on working with water and finding smart ways to grow more with less work. He has been working and educating in the field of regenerative agriculture and permaculture for almost a decade. Through his job in building up Climate Farmers he has worked with hundreds of farmers all over Europe on their regenerative journeys.
Cost
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL (for the first 7 students)
745 EUR for own tent camping
Full price:
990 EUR for own tent camping
For private accommodation, reach out to me!
We ask for a 250 EUR non-refundable and non-transferable deposit to hold your space, with final payments are due in cash on the first day of the live part of the course.
Scholarships available, please email for info.
Includes:
All course content, classes, activities and materials, lodging in your own tents and all meals.
Not Included:
Flights and ground transportation
Location:
Sao Luis, Alentejo, Portugal for the live part
Online on Zoom and through recordings for the Online component