Please note: the April-September 2011 version of this course sold out with several on the waiting list.  Please let the organizer know as soon as you think you might want to hold a spot in this next run of the PDC here in Portland!  

A one-weekend-per-month format for the internationally-recognized full Permaculture Design Certificate Course, Running November 2011 through April 2012 in and around Portland Maine. This course is recommended for home-owners and renters, gardeners, landscape professionals, planners, architects, engineers, tradespeople, community activists and anyone interested in changing "how we organize ourselves" in the landscape. Expected Outcomes:

• Gain a thorough understanding of permaculture origins, ethics, principles and methodologies.
• Enhance your ability to build soil, capture water, reduce energy consumption, generate energy, grow and store food, read the landscape and create edible perennial ecosystems.
• Become a resource for your family and neighborhood, building resilience at the personal, household and community levels.
• Learn how to start transforming even challenging properties into healthy, hi-yielding, low energy systems of abundance.
• Be able to approach any property and apply a permaculture design methodology and set of applied techniques to achieve increased resilience and true sustainability.

Past students are recommending the Permaculture Design Certificate Course course because...

"Everyone should familiarize themselves with permaculture principles & techniques given the local & global changes that are underway."

"It's what we have to do! We all need to enter this scary future more prepared than we are and this course will steer you in the direction of sustainability... and it's fun." (Russ Van Deursen)

"It is tremendous and life altering and revolutionarily simple in it's brilliance and because you discover the tools within you to create the change that you know must happen in this great big beautiful injured world."(Sarah Bostick)

"It will change your outlook on life. And once you've been awakened, there's no desire to go back to the way things were. It will change how you see yourself in the world. It is a necessary class for anyone looking to "rebuild our communities" (self, family, towns, earth) in a healthy manner."

"Only a true teacher has the ability to inspire the opening of minds, and Lisa, you not only opened my mind to a new way of looking at nature, your teaching, quite literally, is laying new neuron pathways in my gray matter as I write. I am not sure how Permaculture will manifest in my life and in my work, but I do know that I am already experiencing, on a daily basis, it's influence, and in ways that are not always 'landscape' oriented either. A welcomed surprise in my life indeed. Thank you very, very much Lisa." (Max D.)

"Many of us seek to improve our World but few of us have the practical skills needed to manifest the desired outcome. Taking the Permaculture Design Course I learned not only specific skill sets but had the amazing experience of working with other people from all walks of life who share this common goal. Charles, Julia, and Lisa were inspirational expert instructors who took the time to ensure each student's progress while providing the very best course material" (Kiarna Boyd)

"Overall, to say this permaculture class was great falls vastly short. It's like the language we have can't contain my feelings regarding the class. It was a paradigm-shifting spiritual type of event. This class on permaculture landscape design gave my life positive new meaning and direction. A positive solution-oriented Path to follow that looks at the destruction we have wrought on this planet full in the face, and doesn't shy away from the immensity of it, but like aikido, uses the same forces that create destruction to heal and recreate balance, beauty, health, community. This class was the perfect mix of people who magically came together at the right time. It was the stuff legends are made of when you reflect back on your life when you're near the end." (Jesse Watson)

Permaculture Design Certificate Course Details

Where: This course will take place in and around Portland, Maine (with our March weekend being largely field trips to sites relevant to permaculture.)  It will consist of the traditional 72-hour PDC course + approx 40 additional hours to ensure we cover hands-on activities, regional examples and timely developments.

When: This course will be held for one weekend per month, November through April. This works well for those who cannot take extensive time off from work or home responsibilities. Nov 5-6 | Dec 3-4 | Jan 7-8 |Feb 4-5 | Mar 3-4 | Mar 30-31, April 1 (design practicum).  Class time generally runs 9am to 5pm with optional films/speakers on the Saturday night of each weekend.

Cost: $900 if registered by August 15, 2011 / $990 if registering after August 15, 2011 Course fee includes full course materials and certification, coffee, tea + am/pm break refreshments, handouts, reference materials on a CD, field trips and guest speakers. One evening meal per weekend is provided and lunches are on your own (we can decide brown bag vs potluck as we get closer). $250 Deposit holds your spot in this course.

Also, (available to any student) reduce the cost of your course tuition by helping get more people trained. For every enrolled student that you refer, receive $50 off your total tuition for this course. OR someone enrolling from the same household can each take 10% off their tuition. Class Size: 15-18 students

What: This course is comprised of lecture, hands-on exercises, guest speakers, field trips, readings/homework, video, discussion and student design projects. There will be pre-work before the course and some required reading between course weekends. Students must attend all sessions and complete the group design project in order to receive their certificates.

Register and make your deposit on this event page. Or use this form to send in a deposit by check! 

Topics Covered

• Big Picture / Permaculture in Context
• Permaculture Ethics & Principles
• Patterns in Nature
• Reading the Landscape
• Intro to Site Assessment
• Soils & Soil Health
• Composting & Advanced Composting
• Sheet Mulching
• Building Your Permaculture Toolkit
• "Synergistic Garden" & Masanobu Fukuoka
• Zones & Sectors
• Viewing a Permaculture Property
• Season Extension / Hoop Houses
• Permaculture Plants for the Northeast
• Polycultures, Guilds and Forest Gardening
• Keyline Design and Swales
• Coppice Agroforestry
• Animals in the Landscape
• Water in the Landscape (Water Collection, Ponds, Flowforms, Greywater, etc.)
• Biodynamics & Permaculture / Planting Strategies
• Herb Spiral and Pond Building
• Renewable Energy
• Retrofitting Buildings for Resilience
• Affordable Green Building/Examples
• Lawns vs. Food + Field Trip
• Permaculture & Community "Invisible Structures"
• Local Currency, CSA, Open Source, etc.
• "Broadacre" Permaculture Lessons
• Becoming Permaculture Resources in Your Community
• Design Methodologies and Conventions
• Mycelial Permaculture Connections to the World
• Design Practicum + Presentations
• Carrying Permaculture Forward

Lisa Fernandes (lead convenor) with many guest/expert permacutlure facilitators and instructors.