roof of the house--
sown by the birds
wildflowers

- issa

Here is a template to inspire to creation of more permaculture learning guilds that support advanced permaculture people to do their two year Permaculture Diploma. If you are already teaching permaculture why not create a course like this to support your students in post-PDC work...

The first course of its kind, this is a seasonal program where we meet up for a full day every 3 months over 10 seasons. An advanced adventure in learning offering support, inspiration and content for you to complete a two year Permaculture Diploma. Open to residents of Southern British Columbia.

A social permaculture vehicle for carrying us across the 2012 divide, this course offers a dynamic learning pathway which will evolve your ability to teach, design and consult using the permaculture toolkit. Its unclear what is happening next for our world or our civilization. In this unknown future you may be called to step forward into a guiding or leadership role in your community. This course helps to support your process of growing awareness while strengthening your confidence and presence in the world.

As individuals and communities, neighbourhoods and nations, we are all in transition on many levels. In this time of rapid change, our actions are weaving the very fabric of the future. There is no better time than 2012 to step into a more active role as community leaders, teachers and stewards. For those that have already done a permaculture design course, you are in a unique position to step forward and evolve your practice to benefit out world.

Whether you are an experienced teacher or a new graduate of the PDC, the permaculture path of life long learning offers many opportunities for growth and evolution. Boost your life skillset, resume and portfolio with a group of advanced students inspired to get credit for two years of applied permaculture work in any area of site design, consulting, aid or teaching. Whether you focus your work at home, in your community, in your business, or on larger projects you can get credit for the work you are doing by earning a valuable Permaculture Diploma.

Here are more of the course details.

All Seasons
Advanced Permaculture Diploma Program

low impact two year mapping and design project at your home
support for four season harvest gardening
advanced design games
permaculture videos
community resilience assessment
disaster scenario preparedness
media development
teaching practice
round table discussions
diploma check in's

Join this adventure in learning as it journeys to eco-locations like the Heart Gardens, UBC Farm, The Frogs Hollow, Rolling Earth, Country Haven, Strathcona and Cottonwood Gardens, Compost Education Center, Loutet Farm, Sole Food, Old Growth Forest sites and the properties of students who want to host.

Cost : $555 in advance ($655 with extended payment plan)
Register now to secure your space and join our learning ring.

Full day meetings in
March, June, September and December

contact : [email protected] for more details

here is even more details about the program:

the advanced course is created to bring together activated permaculture people from our bioregion into a kind of learning guild
to share what we are all up to
while supporting and inspiring each other to organize documentation of everything permaculture we are all doing in our lives
and get credit for that work with a resume / portfolio boosting Permaculture Diploma

i have designed the advanced course as extremely flexible and low impact
requiring only 4 days a year
and having our meetups be optional and able to be missed if you are off traveling, teaching or otherwise engaged

here is a short summary of the course texts and projects

1.0 texts

the texts are reasonably small and totally awesome
each year there is a text on
-plants and cultures of the Coastal First Peoples of this land
-four season organic gardening in our region
- advanced permaculture
- transition

year one

Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia : Nancy Turner (written in Victoria about this area of coastal BC)

The Zero-Mile Diet : A year-round guide to growing organic food : Carolyn Herriot (written in Victoria - totally local and relevant to our specific microclimate)

Permaculture 2 : Bill Mollison (brand new edition)

The Transition Handbook : From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience  : Rob Hopkins (this is the new permaculture movement in many ways - a perfect companion paradigm to permaculture and a natural extension of chapter 13 in the designer manual)


year two

The Earths Blanket : Traditional Teachings for Sustainable Living : Nancy Turner
(how the first peoples of this land lived sustainably for thousands of years)

A Year on the Garden Path : A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide : Carolyn Herriot

(a second four season organic annual veggie gardening book from Victoria, very close and person for our local growing)

Future Scenarios : How Communities can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change : David Holmgren

(a masterfully organized advanced permaculture text full of potent and transformative ideas)

A Demanding and Uncertain Adventure : Rosemary Morrow
(the beautiful journey of a Quaker Woman living the permaculture life, sharing something of permaculture spirituality)

The Transition Companion: Making your community more resilient in uncertain times : Rob Hopkins

(next level transition info)

2.0 map and design

as most permaculture people are already doing
you will be making a map and design for the place where you live

if you move during the course you simple start a new one at your new home

3.0 diploma project

in many ways this is simply documenting what you are already doing

the Diploma is two years of applied work in any area
this can simply be anything permaculture that you do in your lives during the 2 year period
including our awesome advanced course!!

for some this focuses mostly on their home and land

for some there is a project focus
a class they are developing/teaching, a community garden they are building, a trip they are taking, a book they are writing, a video they are making, or any kind of project / experience / process to do with permaculture

people submit their Diploma Folio to the Permaculture Institute of their choice at the end of the course to get the certification

you do not need to take this advanced course to do a Permaculture Diploma

you can do a Diploma entirely on your own

download the Permaculture Academy Yearbook here

http://www.patriciamichaeldesign.com/texts/YearBook.pdf