LOOKING FOR PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE STUDENTS
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
Our Skalitude Permaculture Course has the infrastructure to handle a large course size.
Would you like to have a place?
Methow Valley, North-central Washington, Interior Pacific Northwest
We are moving towards a new economic model to enable more participants.
Ways to reduce course fees:
* Barter for goods and services.
* Bring food in exchange for some course fees.
* Partial work trade for work during the course, primarily in the kitchen.
* Work off some of your fees on my farm before the course.
* Cook for your partner’s admission. Does anyone have a partner (experienced in cooking for groups) who would cook in exchange for the other’s admission?
* There are a limited number of partial scholarships.
* There has to be some financial contribution.
The goal is a fair equitable exchange of value.
Filling a permaculture design course with paying students is not easy in many cases. Over the years I have had to cancel 4 pdcs versus 22 completed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this rate of cancellation is somewhere near the national average. Plus many courses run with less than full enrollment.
There are a few, long-time teachers and venues which fill all their pcdcs regularly, Bullock Permaculture Homestead for instance, but these are relatively few. There are many reasons for this shortfall in students. To a large extent it is a lack of publicity or not reaching out to a wide enough diversity of people. There is a large market out there, but publicity for any one course only reaches so many people. If everyone who was potentially interested knew the full slate of offerings on a regular basis we can expect that all/most courses would fill.
Many people who would like to take a course can’t afford the price. Some of them figure out ways to do worktrade or get scholarships, but many people give up on account of the money. Some people want to take a course and have the money, but don’t have the time.
The economic downturn has made it harder for more people to afford permaculture design courses. That is why I have made the Skalitude permaculture course one of the lowest-cost, residential courses offered this year. This in spite of having an excellent teaching team and facilities.
As a permaculture teacher I research and talk about alternative economic systems. But am I willing to practice them? I am looking for more ways to go beyond the current monetary system
A couple sentences in Marisha Auerbach’s May 2, 2010 email newsletter caught my attention.
“Many of us are feeling the economic shifts. Money is not our only form of currency! Work/trade and barter are encouraged. If you feel drawn to one of these offerings, please don't hesitate to contact me and make arrangements!”
Thank you, Marisha. Ditto for me.
I want to fill the July 11-25 Skalitude Permaculture Design Course. Are you interested? Can you help spread the word?
Course pdf at www.friendsofthetrees.net
Michael Pilarski
509-486-4056
Michael@friendsofthetrees.net 
