Permaculture is a natural design science mimicking the patterns of nature. It can be used to help build regenerative and resilient landscapes and communities. It is a solutions based, systems thinking, design process which can help you to adapt to and build resilience for changes in the natural and social ecosystems.

This course will give you an holistic overview of the basic theory and practical application of how permaculture can be used in what you do. We emphasise the importance of the ethics and prime directive, the key underpinning to permaculture.

We will show you how to use permaculture design in your garden as a pretext to how you can use social permaculture and build your own toolkit to build personal resilience. The content will include references to Chris Johnstone's work on building emotional resilience and guidance from 'Active Hope' by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. We will also look at how we can use permaculture design to build community resilience.

Some content will include discussing the COVID-19 crisis and how it can be used to learn about resilience and pattern recognition.

Examples of areas we will cover are:

What permaculture is
The ethics of permaculture
Zones and sectors
Pattern recognition
How you can use permaculture in your everyday life
The practical application of permaculture design

The sessions run for 2 hours a week for 9 weeks. For more details please contact us.

Using a vibrant combination of theory and practice, our foundation course will introduce you to

- observation techniques
- natural systems and patterns
- ethics and principles of permaculture
- permaculture design tools

The course is informative and interactive. You will leave having designed a permaculture space, putting into practice everything you have learned. Additionally, you will have the grounding to be able to progress onto the full permaculture design course.

Our setting is a listed building inside beautiful Morden Hall Park, a superb place to draw inspiration from nature within the city.

Facilitators

This course is facilitated by Liz.

Liz is a mother, sustainability professional, eco-retrofit project manager, gardener, and chartered civil engineer with a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and has been teaching introductory Permaculture courses for 8 years. She has a thriving urban permaculture garden with a mini orchard, pond, hugel beds and much more. She also has a passion for alternative forms of education for children.

Using a vibrant combination of theory and practice, our foundation course will introduce you to

- observation techniques
- natural systems and patterns
- ethics and principles of permaculture
- permaculture design tools

The course is informative and interactive. You will leave having designed a permaculture space, putting into practice everything you have learned. Additionally, you will have the grounding to be able to progress onto the full permaculture design course.

Our setting is a listed building inside beautiful Morden Hall Park, a superb place to draw inspiration from nature within the city.

Facilitators

This course is facilitated by Liz.

Liz is a mother, sustainability professional, eco-retrofit project manager, gardener, and chartered civil engineer with a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design and has been teaching introductory Permaculture courses for 8 years. She has a thriving urban permaculture garden with a mini orchard, pond, hugel beds and much more. She also has a passion for alternative forms of education for children.

On this online introduction to Permaculture course you’ll be taking a few steps into a positive future. Permaculture shows us how we humans can find our healthy place in nature and shift from separation, scarcity and disease to an ecology of wellbeing.

On this face-to-face live online course you’ll be in a virtual classroom, where you’re able to engage with others, contribute and ask questions. We’ll be covering the basics of Permaculture Design and by the end of the course, you will be ready to try it out in your garden, your workplace and your life.

What will the Introduction to Permaculture course offer?

This course introduces the basics of Permaculture and shows how the design methodology can profoundly change the way we look at the world and engage in it. The course gives participants an understanding of the diverse uses and applications of Permaculture Design and its immense potential of turning scarcity into abundance. Participants will walk away with:

… a clear understanding of what Permaculture is, its origins, the context under which it came about and its development;

… knowledge of its ethical framework, the basic ecological, attitudinal and some design principles;

… an overview of its applications in various fields, as a response to social, economic and environmental challenges and as a tool for personal transformation and social change;

… having tested the basic design methodology and various design tools such as zoning, sector analysis and input-output analysis in the group as well as on your own on a design example;

… having seen a presentation of a completed Permaculture Design project;

… enthusiasm and inspiration, as well as some tools for continued learning and application.

"I found the Permaculture Principles we learned all relevant to my life. If I never touch a plant again, my life will still have been changed by this experience."
- Daniel, permaculture intro course participant

3 sessions on the afternoons of Saturday 20th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th of June 2020

Humanity is going through challenging times. Faced with so much uncertainty, a change of ways and a Permaculture way of thinking seems necessary. Despite not currently being able to meet in person, I feel it is important to keep sharing this work and hope it can be done by offering this online course.

On this 2-day online introduction to Permaculture course you’ll be taking a few steps into a positive future. Permaculture shows us how we humans can find our healthy place in nature and shift from separation, scarcity and disease to an ecology of wellbeing.

On this face-to-face live online course you’ll be in a virtual classroom, where you’re able to engage with others, contribute and ask questions. We’ll be covering the basics of Permaculture Design and by the end of the course, you will be ready to try it out in your garden, your workplace and your life.

3 sessions on the afternoons of Saturday 18th, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th of April 2020
Humanity is going through challenging times. Faced with so much uncertainty, a change of ways and a Permaculture way of thinking seems necessary. Despite not currently being able to meet in person, I feel it is important to keep sharing this work and hope it can be done by offering this online course.

On this 2-day online introduction to Permaculture course you’ll be taking a few steps into a positive future. Permaculture shows us how we humans can find our healthy place in nature and shift from separation, scarcity and disease to an ecology of wellbeing.

On this face-to-face live online course you’ll be in a virtual classroom, where you’re able to engage with others, contribute and ask questions. We’ll be covering the basics of Permaculture Design and by the end of the course, you will be ready to try it out in your garden, your workplace and your life.

Are you seeking inspiration and tools to live a more ecological, ‘green’ life? Are you interested in seeing how the wisdom of natural patterns and ecosystems can support you to make steps in your home, community and work to live in better relation with the earth and the life around you?

Permaculture is a way of understanding what is going on around us, and seeing and imagining the effects of our actions. By observing nature and its systems, by observing feedback and playing with a set of tried and tested Permaculture Principles, we can move towards a resilient, regenerative abundance for us and others, in our gardens, our communities, our businesses, our health, the wider landscape and much more.

This course introduces a wealth of Permaculture Design tools and insights. We will use the land and Retreat Centre we are staying at as a case study for designing and for carrying out gardening and building practical tasks. The course also explores ways fo participants to take this all home and design and improve their homes, gardens and lives.

The course is convened and facilitated by Peter Cow and Bernard Joseph. The weekend will be held in English with French translation where needed.

Earth Culture runs just after ‘Nature Culture‘ – an experiential weekend of nature connection and culture repair, based on the work of the 8 Shields Institute.
Nature Culture runs 7th-9th August – you are really welcome to come to both events and stay over for the Sunday night in between, and you can get a discount if you book onto both courses…

This course is designed to cover the Permaculture principles with an emphasis on supporting you in your journey to permaculture design.

We will work together through theoretical and practical sessions and producing a mini-design you can take home with you to get you started. This course is all about becoming empowered in your approach towards a sustainable life and Permaculture Design.

No prior knowledge of Permaculture is needed to attend.

This course will give you a wide ranging introduction to permaculture as an approach to designing more sustainable ways of living and working. It will give you a good grounding in the core elements of a permaculture approach including the ethical framework or values that underpin it, the ecological principles that it draws upon, and a design framework for applying them. In the course you will be encouraged to explore and consider the issues that matter to you in your life and work, as well as view examples of permaculture in action. The course is held at the beautiful Field Studies Council centre in Pembrokeshire, where there is a wealth of natural habitats to explore, and you will also undertake a small group exercise during which you will develop a permaculture design for a small piece of land. You also have the opportunity to study for the full Permaculture Design Certificate by continuing onto the Permaculture 2 and 3 weekend modules (contact Angie for details). Feedback from a recent course: "I absolutely loved the course last weekend. I loved your style of teaching and the fun we had, yet we still managed to learn so much. Your passion for permaculture inspired me and I left buzzing and I'm still feeling very excited at learning more. I know I will look back in the future and remember your course as a turning point in the way I live my life."

This course will give you a wide ranging introduction to permaculture as an approach to designing more sustainable ways of living and working. It will give you a good grounding in the core elements of a permaculture approach including the ethical framework or values that underpin it, the ecological principles that it draws upon, and a design framework for applying them. In the course you will be encouraged to explore and consider the issues that matter to you in your life and work, as well as view examples of permaculture in action. The course is held at the inspirational Centre for Alternative Technology, where there are lots of practical demonstrations, and you will also undertake a small group exercise during which you will develop a permaculture design for a small piece of land. You also have the opportunity to study for the full Permaculture Design Certificate by continuing onto the Permaculture 2 and 3 weekend modules (contact Angie for details). Feedback from a recent course: "I absolutely loved the course last weekend. I loved your style of teaching and the fun we had, yet we still managed to learn so much. Your passion for permaculture inspired me and I left buzzing and I'm still feeling very excited at learning more. I know I will look back in the future and remember your course as a turning point in the way I live my life."