Dear Permaculture Networkers,

We hope that you will be able to help us showcase the work at Finca Bona
Fide; bring economy to a rural Nicaraguan community; and inspire another
group of students.   Forwarding this email and/or posting the attached flyer
to a website or community board would be a huge help!    –Hope this finds
you well, Michael

 

Permaculture Design Course 2009 :  Bona Fide Institute for Regenerative
Agriculture

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua:  February 3 – 17, 2009


 


Our annual Permaculture design certificate course has been scheduled for
February 3 - 17, 2009.  Registration is open!
Join us for a 15-day permaculture design intensive to learn about:


Principles and Ethics of Permaculture Design;  Site analysis and design,
from the tropics to temperate regions;  Landscape master planning and
microclimate design;  Reading the landscape and pattern recognition;  Design
for climate change; Regenerative Land Management and Stewardship; Water
catchment, storage, filtration, and distribution;  Biologically based
treatment of greywater and blackwater;  Using greywater in the landscape;
Natural building techniques and vernacular architecture;  Plant propagation
and grafting;  Organic horticulture;  Medicinal plant propagation, usage and
preparations;  Biointensive gardening and seed saving;  Soil rehabilitation
and fertility strategies;  Myco-forestry and myco-filtration;  Orchard
design and maintenance;
Renewable energies and biofuels;  Local and Regenerative economics;  Urban
and suburban permaculture strategies;  Ecovillage design and community
building strategies;  Networking within the permaculture community and
beyond…

This 110 hour design course offers a unique opportunity to learn the theory,
principles, and practice of permaculture in a tropical rural agricultural
community, as well as to learn from local farmers, educators, and indigenous
peoples.

This year's instructors are to include:  Chris Shanks (USA), Mike Blazewicz
(USA), Andrea Calfuquir (Argentina), Ashley Carter (USA), Mai Kobayashi
(Japan), and Tiny Man (Costa Rica)

Course price is $1250 USD.

Please register early as the course can and does fill quickly • Course price
does not include airfare • $400 USD non-refundable deposit required •
Accommodations in the local village we serve, Balgüe • 2 persons per room
w/fan. Access to lake for swimming. • Meals will include a mixture of
traditional cuisine and farm foods • Academic credits are often available to
undergraduate and graduate students • The course is taught in English and
simultaneously translated into Spanish via FM-headsets.

Project Bona Fide is a 43-acre permaculture site which has been in
development for nearly a decade, and has become an important center for
education and community development. Infrastructural systems contain:
natural buildings built with local materials, terraced & medicinal plant
gardens, an extensive nursery, seed bank, developing fruit and nut orchards,
food forests, native timber forestry, timber bamboo plantings,
water-catchment, drip irrigation and ferrocement technologies, renewable
energy systems, and composting toilets. Outreach efforts include social
programs that provide educational opportunities based in ecological
agriculture, community reforestation efforts that are supported by our seed
bank and nursery, local seed and plant exchanges, a children’s nutritional
kitchen and an upcoming community center. The developing site, interwoven
with the support we’ve received from our local community, allows Bona Fide
to be fertile ground for cultural exchange on the island and beyond.

Please contact Mike Blazewicz for more information:
michael@roundriverdesign.com or visit http://www.projectbonafide.com
< http://www.projectbonafide.com/>