Hi there, Permaculture friends and family!
My name is Fred and I'm an Australian living near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. i've been living and working here for about eleven years. I trained as a landscape architect at RMIT in Melbourne in the late '80's, where I was introduced to permaculture for the first time. I majored my studies in whole farm design and broadacre landscape planning. I was even luckier to be able to start practicing permaculture while working at garden construction and maintenance during my studies.
I then left for the west coast and landed in Fremantle where I started my business as a landscape architect and constructor - all my work being based on permaculture principles. A permaculture centre sprang up nearby and was another great source of energy for me (where are Mike and Sue now?)
Then the wheels fell off my cart and I tried to drop out of the commercial, materialistic and contradictory world that I saw as impossible to shake off. I spent the next ten years wandering between Fremantle, Broome and Melbourne. During that time I continued to study, starting a graduate diploma in landcare and doing my first PDC.
Then I found myself in Europe and decided to give it a go here - there were no landscape architects around for a start! I got myself a great job with a local gardener, among a million other jobs; always trying to stay outside 'the system'.
Then I found out about a masters course in organic agriculture at Barcelona Uni. and I enrolled despite my spanish being pretty woefull. I managed to pass however, and the great group of students - apart from great friendships, has yielded positive work groups and movement 'back to the mountain'!

Now I am a little more settled - living with my lovely partner Angels and her two kids. We have had several 'permaculture divorces' but we are also positive, and work well together. I also am well and trully 'in the system' of spanish beuracracy as I have been 'legally' here for the last six years, and have just last month recieved permanent residency and work status. This gives me far more freedom in work.

To be continued...