Remote courses led by certified and experienced permaculture teachers

Learn the basics of permaculture design with the Foundations of Permaculture course. You will get a basis for how to apply permaculture in your life and do your own designs.

Nature based design can offer sustainable solutions in times of crisis. building resilience through connection and offering intelligent design that is responsive and observant. 

Sign up to the teacher-led course now.

Course Format - Interactive and transformative

  • 10-12 hours of self directed learning to do at your own time using videos and resources
  • Four teacher-led sessions with an experienced permaculture teacher, offering tailored support during your learning
  • Small learning group of fellow learners with private communication channel
  • Opportunity to develop a permaculture design and present it design to your teacher and fellow learners

Added benefits 

  • Introduction to Permaculture certificate awarded on completion of the course   
  • Membership of the Permaculture Association
  • Discounted rate for our members 
  • Discounts on 6 books from the Permaculture Magazine, chosen to complement this course

 

Prices

  • £152 for Permaculture Association members

  • £190 including membership for 1 year, for non Permaculture Association members

 

Sign up to the teacher-led course now.

 

If you’d prefer to study any time without a teacher supporting your learning, you can enrol on our Access Anytime course for as little as £99 for non-members or £60 for members and start learning right away. Or be the first to get updates on courses by email.

Meet the teachers

We have a globally recognised certifying teachers register and active community of permaculture teachers, many of whom have contributed to this course. Hear from a few of our teachers on the importance of Designing for Resilience:

 

 

Photo: Permablitz London

Sign up to hear updates by email

 

What learners are saying about the course

"A huge amount of rich and interesting content to absorb but it all makes perfect sense! I have made a lot of notes and will come back and learn more... It is good to get a thorough grounding in permaculture principles at this stage so we can see how they are applied in practice." Jon, learner July 2020

"Very interesting and useful the perspective of applying the principles to several situations, including our own life design, rather than just to land based designs. Also, great practical examples!" JO, learner August 2020

"...all the downloadable worksheets is a super resource, specially when just starting out. Simple and user friendly layouts." SA, learner, October 2020

 

Course Content

The course has 6 modules, based upon the Introduction to Permaculture curriculum. 

 

A nature based approach icon

1. A nature based approach

    • Understand what we mean when we say ‘a nature based approach’
    • Understand the importance of regenerative design

    • Discuss permaculture and its ethics 

    • Discuss the benefits of permaculture design

    • Know where to go for more information

     

    2. Principles of PermacultureModule 2 icon

    • Understand that there are different sets of principles in permaculture design 

    • Understand the Holmgren principles 

    • Know how to apply the principles 

    • Understand the Holmgren flower

     

    3. How to Apply PermacultureModule 3 icon

    • Discover a few of the wide applications of permaculture design

    • Understand how permaculture can be applied in your community, at home and for your wellbeing

    • Apply permaculture thinking to various areas of your life 

     

     4. Design Frameworks

    • Understand there are different design frameworks 

    • Understand the value of using a permaculture design framework

    • Choose a design to apply SADIMET to

    • Understand the similarities between SADIMET and OBREDIMET

    • Understand the Design Web

    • Apply the SADIMET framework to a chosen design

     

    5. Design MethodsModule 5 icon

    • Understand the importance of observation 

    • Understand zones 

    • Complete an input-output analysis 

    • Prepare a design

    • Present your design

     

    6. Your next stepsModule 6 icon

    • Consolidate learning around 4 principles of permaculture

    • Understand the different areas of the Permaculture Association‘s work 

    • Know where to go to find more about our teachers, their courses and how to learn more

    • Know how to connect with other learners and others that are studying and practising permaculture outside of this course 

    • Understand some resilient next steps

     

     

    Sign up to the teacher-led course now.

    Frequently Asked Questions

     

    How long does the course last?

    For the certified Foundations of Permaculture course, you should aim to complete it within 3 months. You can study at your own pace and be part of group sessions arranged with your teacher. You and your course leader will agree upon the group's online presentation date.

    Do I get any qualifications from the course?

    You will get an official Introduction to Permaculture certificate delivered to you from the Permaculture Association. The information developed in this course was created with our teaching community, utilising hundreds of years of combined permaculture research and knowledge from our dedicated members. 

    Can anyone participate in the course?

    No prior knowledge is required for this course. The course will be in English and there will be a glossary of terms included. Limited hearing: Subtitles are used in videos and all videos have text scripts below.We are dedicated to engaging a diverse audience with this course.

    Can I do the course in person?

    You may be able to start the course at one of our events, such as the convergence or diploma gathering.Blended remote elements will be offered too - webinars, creating guilds with others and online communities to enable you to feel connected.

    Our Ethics - Earth Care, People Care, Fair Shares

    Key Elements to all Permaculture Association courses:

    • We are a permaculture charity - in using our platform you will be assured of fair prices, strongly held ethics and key principles.  

    • Your course fee will give 10% to a Fair Shares pot, reinvesting a percentage of profits into improving education, managed by our educators. 

    • All courses will showcase permaculture in practise, providing examples and places to engage, connect you to teacher profiles, events and your peers.

    • Support to use the ethics on your own purposeful design work.

    • Principles - helping you to design resiliently and regeneratively.

    • Purposeful Design - Our clients are both mother nature & future generations! 

    • Action - your next steps, LAND demonstration centres, our globally recognised certified teachers network, our membership community - permaculture in practise.