*Starts next week*

Permaculture Design Certificate

Practical 6-Month Course

Santa Cruz, CA
Includes 110 Hours of hands on activities, field trips and presentations
Free On-site Camping

Dates & Topics

April 8-9 – Introduction to Permaculture Design and Nature Awareness
May 6-7 – Restoring Watersheds & Soils
June 10-11 – Social Permaculture 
July 8-9 – Home Scale Permaculture: Creating Natural Homes and Edible Landscapes
August 5-6 – Broad Scale Permaculture: Integrated Animal Husbandry and Forest Management
September 9-10 – Regenerative Community Development
September 16 – Design Presentations & Party!

Guides

David Shaw – Sustainable Agriculture & Social Permaculture
Jon Young – Ecology, Tracking, and Deep Nature Connection
Lydia Neilsen – Watershed Restoration
John Valenzuela – Agroforestry & Tropical Permaculture
Janine Bjornson – Natural Building
Lee Klinger – Sudden Oak Life
Doniga Markegard – Holistic Management & Grassland Restoration
And More!

Registration

$1,250 – Full 6-Month Tuition
$1,050 – Early-Bird Discount
$950 – Partner / Spouse Discount – When one partner registers for the full course, the second gets a discount
$950 – Teacher Discount – For K-12, College and University Teachers
$750 – Child Discount – When an adult registers for the full course, their child gets a discount
$300 – One Weekend Only
Please Inquire about Payment Plans, Low-income and Youth POC Discounts

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is an ethically based whole-systems design approach that uses concepts, principles, and methods derived from ecosystems, indigenous peoples, and other time-tested systems to create human settlements and institutions. It’s also been called “saving the planet while throwing a better party.” 

Our course includes the internationally recognized 72-hour curriculum, augmented by an additional 38-hours of hands on practice and field trips.

Upon successful completion of this course, graduates will be able to:
  • Assess the sustainability of current design systems and practices;
  • Define permaculture ethics and the principles of sustainability;
  • Employ natural patterns as a design tool in a wide variety of contexts;
  • Understand basic soil ecology and implement composting methods;
  • Design simple water harvesting systems, from home to broadacre scale;
  • Define and design “guilds” or constructed plant communities;
  • Understand local food issues and the importance of localization;
  • Translate ecological principles to a variety of social, economic, and educational settings;
  • Employ best practices for starting and sustaining intentional communities and Ecovillages;
  • Apply permaculture methods to educational curriculum design and the creation of school garden programs.