Dear world, as we reached the target for Romanian participation at this course it’s time to open this event for all of the world. I think it would be the biggest achievement of The Romanian Permaculture Community. What I mean by that is, organizing a certified PDC, by us, the community, for ourselves.

The course will take place between August 30th - September 14th and will be hosted by “La Gugu”, a beautiful farm located in Zece Hotare village, Șuncuiuș township, Bihor county.

The course will be facilitated by two people that are good friends, and have a rich experience with permaculture, and other related fields as well: eco-villages, transition towns, deep ecology, etc. Claudian Doboș and Mauricio Umann will be the two facilitators.

Right from the beginning, our goal was to keep the costs of this course as low as possible. The standard fee of 800 lei (approximately 180 euro), practically makes it the least expensive PDC that has been organized so far in Romania. This taking into account that the fee for a course starts at 400-500 euro, in eastern Europe , and it exceeds 1000 euro per participant, in the west.

This high quality course will be adapted to the needs and characteristics of our climate, and in the same time, will follow the usual curriculum of a PDC. The PDC will provide the opportunity to learn and understand how to make use of the methodology, ethics, principles, instruments and techniques of permaculture, in order to create accomplished, harmonious projects. 

Lodging will be done in tents or trailers, depending on the choice and possibility of each participant. Our hosts, along with the volunteers, will make sure that certain amenities are in place, like: showers, toilets, service space, etc.
Transportation to and from the site we will organize together, in a manner as convenient as possible for everyone. All those who will enlist for the course, and will fill in the form, will receive specific directions on how to get to „La Gugu” farm.
Some of the food will be provided by us, and some of it will be bought. We will organize teams of volunteers that will be in charge of preparing meals, every day, through rotation. There will be at least one chef coordinating the whole activity, so that the food will be tasty, nourishing and plentiful for everyone.

This could be an alternative to a vacation for some of us, time spent alongside people with a similar vision or way of thinking, a chance to learn many interesting things, and also have fun, make new friends and feel good together. From my experience, that’s how things unfold in a PDC.

At the end of the course, every participant will receive a certificate recognized by The Permaculture Association (the british association for permaculture), which they can further use to obtain a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.

Recap:
Permaculture Design Course (PDC)
Organizers: The Romanian Permaculture Community
Hosts: “La Gugu” farm - Zece Hotare village, Șuncuiuș township, Bihor county
Facilitators: Claudian Doboș, Mauricio Umann
Number of participants: 32
Fees:
standard fee – 800 lei (180 euro), with registration until July the 15th
discount fee – 600 lei (135 euro), for people who sign up as organizers for the course as well, with registration until May the 30th ; the number of participants is limited to 8
increased fee – 1100 lei (250 euro), for people registering after July the 15th and foreign citizens.

The budget for this course was an estimate of 3200 euro, but we hope that we can keep the costs significantly below this amount, through the contribution of each and every one of us.

After completing the course, we will calculate the money surplus, and then give each participant the possibility to redirect his share. He can either save that money, for personal use, or he can donate it to the community, for other projects.
We want all operations to be as transparent as possible.

If you’ve decided you want to join us for this PDC, please register by filling in the following form:

#mce_temp_url#

Registering will involve a down payment of 50% by August the 15th .
Those who fill in the form will receive details about payment options, as well as other relevant information about the course, via email.