Permaculture Design Course January 23 – February 6 2019

Join us for a two week Permaculture Design Course (PDC)

Register now!

The Panya Project is a 13-year old example of a fully integrated Permaculture site with many exciting examples of Permaculture design. Not only will you be partaking in a two-week long immersion in Permaculture, you will also live with the Panya community and thereby learn how to live and thrive in an intentional community. Our aim is to create a supportive learning community for the duration of the course where trust, compassion, support and connection is built among participants.

Permaculture is a design system that aligns human communities with the ecological imperatives of a living planet. Permaculture is a way of organizing knowledge, a connecting system that integrates science, art, politics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the diverse experiences and resources available in any community.


What is a PDC?

A Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is an internationally-recognized, 72-hour course resulting in a Permaculture Design Certificate. It provides an introduction to permaculture design as set forth by movement founder Bill Mollison. The PDC serves as a foundation for further permaculture work and study and is a prerequisite for the Diploma in Permaculture Design, offered through The Permaculture Institute and Gaia University. Credit for this course is now accepted by a growing number of universities around the world. To date, thousands of permaculture designers worldwide have been certified through this course, and now comprise a global network of educators, ecological activists, consultants and practitioners who are influencing the decisions of major corporations, small business and people from all walks of life to change the way we view and design our landscape, our surroundings, our relationships and our daily lives so we can grow the revolution that our planet needs.

 


What to expect:

This PDC promises to be a very unique experience. We teach based on our real life experiences with Permaculture, here at Panya and around the world. With more than a decade of experience consulting, the three course facilitators have collectively taught more than 20 permaculture design courses, dozens of permaculture workshops, and they have designed and constructed more than 20 earthen buildings, 25 edible perennial landscapes and 30 appropriate technology solutions across three continents. It is our goal to live, breathe and practice Permaculture every day of our lives, and we are enthusiastic to share as much of our knowledge as possible. The 72-hours of coursework, required to receive a Permaculture Design Certificate, will be covered over the two-week period. It promises to be a PDC full of energy and excitement, where sessions will be taught to accommodate different learning styles combining lectures, group discussions, visual demonstrations, hands-on participatory learning and other creative ways of teaching Permaculture. In addition to the information presented, many participants say the interpersonal activities and relationships formed during the workshop are what truly shape the experience. Every morning participants will be able take part in the existing permaculture activities on the farm. All students are required to be present for the full two weeks if they wish to receive the certificate.

 


Who is this course for?

  • Anyone interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle, creating health and well-being for their community, and working towards an abundant, ecologically responsible future
  • Development and/or aid workers
  • Project managers looking to bring sustainability to their activities
  • Backyard gardeners
  • Farmers and agriculturalists
  • Landscape designers seeking a more sustainable dimension for their work
  • Community activists
  • Homeowners who want to invest in the long-term productivity of their property
  • Educators

Course Details:

This 2-week program is designed to give participants the inspiration and practical knowledge they need to become a positive change in the world. The course will include a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand. We will cover every major topic in Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: a Designers Manual in the classroom and also in the gardens.

We will focus heavily on the design process so that each participant feels empowered to take the knowledge with them and put it into practice.

The course curriculum is as follows:

  • Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture
  • Permaculture principles and how to apply them in your daily life
  • Patterns in nature, time and space in permaculture design
  • Systemic thinking; exploring the connections between elements and how to identify leverage points for change
  • Methods of design; how to apply permaculture design tools and strategies to your design problems. How to increase your chances of a success by following a well-defined design methodology
  • Evaluation and Monitoring; how to follow up on your projects and ensure they are succeeding.
  • Climatic factors and strategies for all the major climates and how to work with them
  • Trees, forests and forest gardening; how to mimic natural forest systems to create an abundance of food, fiber and fodder
  • Home gardening; how to create high yielding, low input annual gardens for food sovereignty
  • Water management, value, catchment, usage and conservation
  • Soil;  physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and how to work with the soil food web to build new soils, prevent erosion, create a healthy ecosystem and regenerate degraded land
  • Earthworks; shaping the land to realize abundance with mother earth and create positive effects on ecological systems (swales, terraces, ponds, etc.)
  • Aquaculture; exploring the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants
  • Natural building; how to design climate appropriate structures and build beautiful, spiritually uplifting homes using locally sourced & natural materials
  • Urban permaculture strategies and approaches
  • Alternative systems; bioregional organization, community development, alternative economic systems and permaculture as aid
  • Community living and alternative lifestyles that harmonize people and the planet.

As part of the course, participants will help to co-create designs for real world projects that could include elements such as food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural building, water catchment, irrigation systems and more. Participants will have the opportunity to design their own land or any project they are involved with.

(Please contact us for more information if you are interested in designing your own land or project).

Anyway who is interested to get practical experiences before dipping into theory and philosophy of Permaculture, is welcome to join us beginning at the 7th or the 14th of January.


Cost:

For this PDC, we use a sliding scale.

Minimum course price:  600 USD or 19,500 THB

Maximum course price:   1000 USD or 32,500 THB

At the Panya Project, we recognize the havoc that our current economic system (capitalism) has created, and envision another model. However, even as we work toward a new model in building community, environmental regeneration, and creating abundant landscapes we realize that we are not there yet. We live in a global world with large disparities. The sliding scale is one way of acknowledging differences in wealth, income, costs, and privilege and actively address the economic disparities in our communities and society. This means you choose what to pay within the range!

Please read some of our reasons for using this method of payment:

♦ These price points are set to make the workshop accessible to people with different levels of income, so that financial resources need not be a barrier. Please chose the price point that best reflects your ability to pay based on your individual circumstances. A sliding scale asks you to be an active participant in an alternative economic system.

♦ If a sliding scale is implemented effectively, everyone pays a similar percentage of their income for the same services. This way, the cost of our services is not pocket change for some people and a big commitment to other people.

♦ By using a sliding scale, those who have the ability to pay more do, and thereby allow people with a small income to also participate in this course

This price includes all meals and a place to stay for the duration of the course. Transport from Chiang Mai to Panya and after the course back is included in the course fee.

We ask all registrants to make a deposit of US$100 to secure your spot and the remaining fees be paid in cash during the workshop (Euro, USD, or THB).  

Register now!

**Scholarships are available for low-income people from Thailand or surrounding SE Asia countries.**


About the Facilitators:

Geoffroy Godeau

Geoffroy, originally from Belgium where he graduated in landscape architecture, discovered permaculture while volunteering in Nicaragua. He has been living on and off at the Panya Project for the last ten years, learning and teaching about natural building, community living, and regenerative design. He has been working and teaching on natural building projects in Belgium and France as well, and investigating and practicing permaculture techniques in landscaping projects. He is also part of “brin de paille” the French speaking permaculture network in Europe.  

Nick Tittle

Nick spent three years managing volunteers, interns and apprentices at the Panya Project Permaculture and Earthen Building Education Center. Nick specializes in consulting and teaching about a variety of subjects including natural building, organic gardening, forest gardening, soil food web technology, animal husbandry and alternative economic systems and has consulted in Thailand, China, India, Portugal, Algeria, and the USA. Nick is currently working with the Blueprint Alliance on a regenerative toolkit for refugee camp design for the humanitarian sector based upon Permaculture principles and systems thinking.


The Accommodation:

At the Panya Project, we have two dormitory buildings, as well as a number of private rooms available. If you would like to reserve a private room (not fancy!) we are asking for an extra contribution of $50 for the course. Either way, you will be provided with a place to sleep, mosquito net, mattress, sheets, blankets and pillow. Please be flexible about your sleeping space. If for some reason you would strongly prefer to be in one space or the other, please let us know, and we will try to make that happen for you. Fresh, vegetarian food will be provided throughout the course. Special dietary needs can be accommodated for but please let us know in advance.


Contact information:

Please feel free to email us on SurplusPermacultureDesign@gmail.com for any additional information you may need.

Earth Care – People Care – Fair Share