Post-PDC Practical Course

A PDC (Permaculture Design Course) is mainly the theory. The foundation. And although our course programme features daily practical sessions, it doesn’t pretend to equip people with the range of practical skills they’ll need to implement permaculture designs.

While all this knowledge and enthusiasm is fresh, this is a chance to put some of it into practice with support and supervision.

The Post-PDC Practical courses follow on immediately after Quinta do Vale’s residential 2-week PDCs and last for 1 week. They are open to all graduates of the PDCs and anyone else who’s already taken a PDC and is interested in acquiring more practical experience.

The final design exercises for the PDC will be based on parts of the quinta. At the end of the course, we take a vote on what we think is the design or part-design we’d all like to implement (materials availability permitting).

That very specific criterion ensures we run with a project which everyone is enthusiastic about and which is an achievable target for a week’s work.

Courses are taught in English.

The accommodation is camping on-site. 3 vegetarian meals a day are served and we share the cooking - a treasured part of this course. Special diets can be catered for. There are hot showers and free wifi on-site. There’s also a nearby river beach and cafés, all within 300m of the quinta.

The particular challenges of this mountainside location mean the course is unsuitable for people with mobility issues.

The surrounding valleys have attracted eco-immigrants from all over the world during the last 10-15 years. We often manage to squeeze events going on in the wider community into our courses so participants can get a taste for the exciting things happening here. So be warned – this place and the landscape and community it’s embedded in can capture your heart and your imagination!