We are first and foremost an education charity, in fact, we started as a result of the first permaculture courses held in the early 1980s. Since then we have developed support for local teachers and a range of services for learners. Our ‘small and slow solutions’ have had a very significant cumulative impact. 

Permaculture education has changed the way many thousands of people see the world and led to some of the most exciting sustainability initiatives in the UK.

Permaculture Learning Pathways
Woman looking at leaves hero learn

Support for Learners

  • Extensive course listings of introductory, full design and specialist courses offered in person and online.
  • Advice for learners on what courses are most suitable for their needs.
  • Comprehensive resources on the key elements of permaculture and associated practical solutions
  • A network of places to experience permaculture in person and learn by doing.
  • The Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design as a progression route for people that have taken the ‘Full Design Course’.
  • A range of online courses for people that are unable to access courses in person.
  • Tailored courses for businesses and organisations, including CPD, and advice on how to incorporate permaculture into degree level, school curricula and other courses.
     
Educators Gathering 2022

Support for Educators

  • Links to teacher training courses and a recommended teacher training curriculum.
  • A platform to advertise courses. Consistently our most popular web pages.
  • A core curriculum for the Permaculture Design Course.
  • A Certified Teachers Register as a quality assurance mechanism.
  • A wide range of resources for working with children.
  • Educator membership with monthly mailings, meetings, the Education Working Group and an annual in-person Educator’s meeting.
  • Assistance to educator members and the Workers Education Association (WEA), Crossfields Institute, Open College Network and other bodies to accredit permaculture at a number of vocational levels.
  • Assistance to educators working with Job Centres, grant funders and the WEA to make permaculture education accessible at low cost for disadvantaged learners and the unemployed.
     
“Membership of the Certified Teachers Register brings an additional level of credibility to the offer that I am making. The connection to the Permaculture Association.. gives the organisations and individuals that I work with increased confidence in the quality and legitimacy of the work that I am doing which I know is important to them.

In relation to this, I feel that my participation as a member of the CTR, and also as a Diploma Tutor, is part of my own commitment and contribution to this community which in turn helps to advocate for the powerful part that our members' expertise, passion and energy has the potential to contribute at this moment of great change.

Furthermore, on a personal level, I value the fact that The Permaculture Association is a members organisation driven and shaped by the interests of the diverse community that it represents.
I feel that the work that the association does around best practice in Permaculture Design is particularly important and wish to be as supportive as possible of this drive to maintain the integrity of this community of practice, particularly the ethical drive, which is its beating heart.”
Liz Posthlewaite, Educator Member and Certified Teacher