Announcing our one-weekend-per-month format for the internationally-recognized full
Permaculture Design Certificate Course, Running November 2011 through April 2012 in and around Portland Maine (about 2h north of Boston by car/train/bus). This course is recommended for home-owners and renters, gardeners, landscape professionals, planners, architects, engineers, tradespeople, community activists and anyone interested in changing "how we organize ourselves" in the landscape.
Expected Outcomes:
Gain a thorough understanding of permaculture origins, ethics, principles and methodologies.
Enhance your ability to build soil, capture water, reduce energy consumption, generate energy, grow and store food, read the landscape and create edible perennial ecosystems.
Become a resource for your family and neighborhood, building resilience at the personal, household and community levels.
Learn how to start transforming even challenging properties into healthy, hi-yielding, low energy systems of abundance.
Be able to approach any property and apply a permaculture design methodology and set of applied techniques to achieve increased resilience and true sustainability.
Past students are recommending the
Permaculture Design Certificate Course course because...
"Everyone should familiarize themselves with permaculture principles & techniques given the local & global changes that are underway."
"It's what we have to do! We all need to enter this scary future more prepared than we are and this course will steer you in the direction of sustainability... and it's fun." (Russ Van Deursen)
"It is tremendous and life altering and revolutionarily simple in it's brilliance and because you discover the tools within you to create the change that you know must happen in this great big beautiful injured world."(Sarah Bostick)
"Many of us seek to improve our World but few of us have the practical skills needed to manifest the desired outcome. Taking the Permaculture Design Course I learned not only specific skill sets but had the amazing experience of working with other people from all walks of life who share this common goal. Charles, Julia, and Lisa were inspirational expert instructors who took the time to ensure each student's progress while providing the very best course material" (Kiarna Boyd)
"Overall, to say this permaculture class was great falls vastly short. It's like the language we have can't contain my feelings regarding the class. It was a paradigm-shifting spiritual type of event. This class on permaculture landscape design gave my life positive new meaning and direction. A positive solution-oriented Path to follow that looks at the destruction we have wrought on this planet full in the face, and doesn't shy away from the immensity of it, but like aikido, uses the same forces that create destruction to heal and recreate balance, beauty, health, community. This class was the perfect mix of people who magically came together at the right time. It was the stuff legends are made of when you reflect back on your life when you're near the end." (Jesse Watson) Permaculture Design Certificate Course Details Where: This course will take place in and around Portland, Maine (with our March weekend being largely field trips to sites relevant to permaculture.) It will consist of the traditional 72-hour
PDC course + approx 40 additional hours to ensure we cover hands-on activities, regional examples and timely developments.
When: This course will be held for one weekend per month, November through April. This works well for those who cannot take extensive time off from work or home responsibilities. Nov 5-6 | Dec 3-4 | Jan 7-8 |Feb 4-5 | Mar 3-4 | Mar 30-31, April 1 (design practicum). Class time generally runs 9am to 5pm with optional films/speakers on the Saturday night of each weekend.
Cost: $900 if registered by August 15, 2011 / $990 if registering after August 15, 2011 Course fee includes full course materials and certification,
coffee, tea + am/pm break refreshments, handouts, reference materials on a CD, field trips and guest speakers. One evening meal per weekend is provided and lunches are on your own (we can decide brown bag vs potluck as we get closer). $250 Deposit holds your spot in this course.
Also, (available to any student) reduce the cost of your course tuition by helping get more people trained. For every enrolled student that you refer, receive $50 off your total tuition for this course. OR someone enrolling from the same household can each take 10% off their tuition. Class Size: 15-18 students
What: This course is comprised of lecture, hands-on exercises, guest speakers, field trips, readings/homework, video, discussion and student design projects. There will be pre-work before the course and some required reading between course weekends. Students must attend all sessions and complete the group design project in order to receive their certificates.
Register and make your deposit on this event page:
http://www.meetup.com/portlandpermaculture/events/18712361/ Topics Covered
Big Picture / Permaculture in Context
Permaculture Ethics & Principles
Patterns in Nature
Reading the Landscape
Intro to Site Assessment
Soils & Soil Health
Composting & Advanced Composting
Sheet Mulching
Building Your Permaculture Toolkit
"Synergistic Garden" & Masanobu
Fukuoka Zones & Sectors
Viewing a Permaculture Property
Season Extension / Hoop Houses
Permaculture Plants for the Northeast
Polycultures, Guilds and Forest
Gardening Keyline Design and Swales
Coppice Agroforestry
Animals in the Landscape
Water in the Landscape (Water Collection, Ponds, Flowforms, Greywater, etc.)
Biodynamics & Permaculture / Planting Strategies
Herb Spiral and
Pond Building
Renewable Energy
Retrofitting Buildings for Resilience
Affordable Green Building/Examples
Lawns vs. Food + Field Trip
Permaculture & Community "Invisible Structures"
Local Currency, CSA, Open Source, etc.
"Broadacre" Permaculture Lessons
Becoming Permaculture Resources in Your Community
Design Methodologies and Conventions
Mycelial Permaculture Connections to the World
Design Practicum + Presentations
Carrying Permaculture Forward
Lisa Fernandes (lead convenor) with Charles & Julia Yelton and many guest/expert permacutlure facilitators and instructors.
