happily watching 

 the dewdrops forming...

a frog

- issa

 

I was borne in the damp cedar rainforests of British Columbia's mossy west coast which is protected from the open Pacific by Vancouver Island. Growing up in the misty woods and snow capped peaks that are the traditional lands of the Coastal First Peoples, my mother inspired in me a love for nature. After running an ecological gardening business for 7 years to pay my way through university, I discovered permaculture, a design system which combined traditional understandings about how to live sustainably, with modern scientific understandings. I got funding from the Federal Canadian government to set up a full time year long youth program bringing permaculture into the elementary schools in my area. The youth program built community gardens to grow food for the food bank, did week long eco-education campaigns at elementary schools, built demonstration sites in a number of public locations and ran a youth camp. Following this I took many teacher trainings while developing and delivering curriculum for people of all ages and educational levels. I have also developed a public eco-education site in my home village of Roberts Creek which features plants with a history of use by Coastal First Peoples and is anchored in a small learning centre in the heart of the gardens. Currently I am working on a Doctorate in Permaculture Education and would love to gain more experience facilitating learning for people of all ages.

 

Education 

1992 – 1997 Seycove Secondary School, Graduated with Honors

1997 – 2001 Liberal Arts Baccalareate Degree : Simon Fraser University

2001 – 2002 Liberal Arts Post-Baccalareate Degree : Simon Fraser University

2002 Permaculture Design Certification : Permaculture Visions

2002 Permaculture Design Certification : Permaculture Visions

2003 Permaculture Design Certification : Australian Correspondence School

2003 - 2005      Permaculture Diploma : Permaculture Academy - Bill Mollison

2007 Permaculture Teacher Training : Tom Ward and Jude Hobbs

2007 Permaculture Teacher Training : Bullock Brothers

2010 Food Cycles : Robin Wheeler

2010 Advanced Permaculture Principles and Planning Tools course : David Holmgren

2010 Permaculture Design Certification : Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison

2006 – 2010 Masters Degree in Permaculture Education : Permaculture Academy - Bill Mollison

2011 Permaculture Teacher Training and Facilitators Course : Robyn Francis

2011  PDC Teacher Training Course : Geoff Lawton

2011  Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning : Robin Clayfield

2011  Creative Community Governance and Decision Making : Robin Clayfield

2011  Permaculture Design Certificate Teacher Training : Rosemary Morrow

2011  Advanced Permaculture Principles and Reading Landscapes : David Holmgren

2012  Turning your Garden into Gaia's Garden : Toby Hemenway

2012  Permaculture Design Certification : Toby Hemenway

2012  Permaculture Teacher Training : Scott Pittman and Larry Santoyo

2010 - 2012 Permaculture Diploma : Permaculture Institute USA : Scott Pittman

 

Work Experience

  

Heart of the Creek, Roberts Creek

Heart Gardener

www.villagerepair.org

2003 - present

Care for and maintain existing gardens, design and develop new gardens and garden features. Researching, purchasing and planting new species. Whole system management and stewardship of the land.  

 

Gaiacraft

Co-creator and Facilitator

www.gaiacraft.com

2007-present

Co-created a collective of permaculture educators. We have built an online educational platform, permaculture guild, and social networking site for permaculture. Currently we are developing a series of free teaching-learning tools.

 

Permaculture Institute USA

Field Mentor

http://www.permaculture.org

2012 - present

Delvin mentors advanced students through a 2 1/2 year diploma process. 

Sustainable Living Arts School

Permaculture Facilitator

2007-2011

On staff at a place based experiential eco-education school. Facilitated permaculture courses and attended classes on food preservation, medicine making and seasonal timely actions in the garden and home for homesteaders.

Liminal Village, Portugal

Temple Gardener

www.boomfestival.org

4 two month contracts 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 

Supported the design, development, co-ordination and facilitation of a 7 day conference featuring workshops all day, evening keynote presentations and all night cinema. Helped design and implement a diverse permaculture demonstration garden featuring more than 12 beds and three types of signs written in 5 different languages. Led a garden workshops for over 100 people of all ages from 31 different countries. Did multimedia presentations and panel facilitation during the evenings. Was part of a team who developed a magazine published for the festival and worked with the Daily Dragon Newspaper as a correspondent, reporter and contributing editor.

 

EcoTech, Sunshine Coast Community Employment Center

Permaculture Facilitator

2003-2004

Co-wrote a grant to the HRDC resulting in $250,000 of funding for two, six month long youth programs. Facilitated afternoon sessions of the program for two teams of 13 Youth at Risk between the ages of 18 – 30. Co-ordinated community garden projects, did eco-education outreach in schools and public gatherings, facilitated permaculture certifications and did life skills development. Wrote articles about the project and developed much curriculum for the program

 

Teaching Experience

garden tours, talks, classes and workshops

ten intro to permaculture courses 2009 - 2012

thirteen 72 hr Permaculture Design Certificate Courses 2009 - 2012

 

currently he is facilitating 

four 72 hr Permaculture Design Courses

four 30 month Advanced Permaculture Diploma Courses

 

Academic Research

Post Baccalaureate Thesis : Taoist and Zen Recluse Traditions and their influence on the development of West Coast Counterculture from 1950's - 1990's.

Permaculture Diploma Thesis : Permaculture Education for Elementary Schools, Post-Secondary students and the communities of the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. 

Permaculture Masters Thesis : The Role and Place of Permaculture in Mainstream and Alternative Education Systems. 

Permaculture Diploma Thesis : Permaculture Education in the Site Design of a Public Demonstration Garden in Roberts Creek, British Columbia

Letters of Recommendation

 

1.0 Rosemary Morrow : Blue Mountain Permaculture Institute

Earth Literacy : Agricultural ecology and Permaculture

Delvin has participated in permaculture teacher training and his strength is in integrating new knowledge and using it effectively.  He applied himself thoughtfully in carrying out the facilitation required of him.  Delvin was able to quickly and creatively use local materials.  He has already developed a basic teaching toolkit which he shared with others.  He was particularly generous in sharing his teaching ideas and materials which were very helpful.

I am confident he could teach alone or co-teach, I expect that on the ground, and in any country he would be an excellent addition to a team.  In addition, Delvin is doing some important pioneer work in connecting people around the world in permaculture.

Yours truly,

Rosemary Morrow, 

Course Teacher,

Founder, Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute

2.0 Toby Hemenway : Permaculture Institute USA

Delvin has also been honing his teaching skills by offering concurrent, year-long Permaculture Design Courses as well as longer Advanced Courses as part of a Diploma program through the Permaculture Institute USA, for whom I am a Field Director. He is planning to organize a series of advanced courses that I will teach over the coming years and I look forward to seeing him in his home environment and sharing more permaculture with his students and community. 

Knowing that Delvin is creating many free open source teaching and learning tools and worksheets for permaculture education which are bringing together all his learning from many elders of the permaculture movement, I am excited to what my student will do in the future. His generosity in developing many open-source educational materials is virtually unparalleled and is a real asset to the community 

My hope is to empower his choice to teach permaculture as a life path and support him to achieve the most legitimacy that permaculture can give him to bolster his dialogues with school boards, university and K-12 educators and administrators, and others with the aim of bringing permaculture into the mainstream education system.

Delvin has my absolute highest recommendation in whatever path he chooses to pursue, and I urge you to support his work wholeheartedly.

Best regards,

Toby Hemenway

Director, Center for Pattern Literacy

Field Director, Permaculture Institute USA

http:patternliteracy.com

 

3.0 Robin Wheeler : Sustainable Living Arts School

It has been a pleasure to watch him grow with his new knowledge, and to watch him take his place in our community as a reliable, knowledgable and kind teacher. He works confidently in what he knows, and does not hesitate to research and investigate the things he is unsure of.  He is respectful of his students and is thorough in his approach to information sharing. He is punctual and prepared when giving lessons.  I do not hesitate to recommend him as a Permaculture Design instructor.

 

Robin Wheeler

Owner/operator - Edible Landscapes (ediblelandscapes.ca)

Owner/operator -The Sustainable Living Arts School (slas.ca)

Founder - The One Straw Society (onestraw.ca)