A review of Aranya's new book: Permaculture Design - a Step by Step Guide Publisher:Permanent Publications Paperback:204 pages ISBN-13:978-1856230919 A good teacher realises that they still have a lot to learn, an exceptional one realises that ‘everything works both ways’ and reflects on both the results of the students and their personal experience of the session. Aranya has taught Permaculture Design Courses in weekly, monthly and 72 hour residential formats and has a keen grasp of the educator’s concept of process over content. This book is the accumulation of seven years of teaching full PDC’s on an almost full time basis in both the UK and internationally and constantly striving to refine and improve upon the one before. To this end Aranya developed a series of work sheets that took the student through the design process in a staged way that gave them a point of reference if the teacher or peers were not around to offer advice. As an apprentice I have been privileged to observe this process and am regularly impressed with the depth of the resultant designs prepared by the students. If the ethics and principles are the foundations that underpin what drives us as designers then the tools in this book are the scaffolding to hang it all on and provide what is missing from many otherwise excellent permaculture publications. It enables designers to work through the process, ensuring nothing important gets lost in the excitement (theirs or the clients) to get on – invaluable when presenting a proposal to clients who may want to know why a particular element is in and another has been left out. Each chapter is packed with ideas, tools and concepts that should be familiar to anyone who has done a PDC. The beauty is the cohesive way in which they are presented, acronyms are explained, examples given and I was pleased to see low and hi tech mapping tools included as well as a section “Beyond Land Based Design”. This guide does not replace a design course but is a useful adjunct, especially for those wishing to take their designing seriously and beyond their PDC design exercise or own site. I found it immensely useful in completing my diploma. Review by Gary Finch • Out now from aranyagardens.co.uk and green-shopping.co.uk