Permaculture Design Course - 7 to 20 October 2018
Optional Practical Permaculture Week 21 to 27 October 2018 (click here for more information)
The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is a 72-hour internationally recognised training engaging participants' head, heart and hands to discover the principles and techniques of Permaculture Design.
At Tribewanted Monestevole in Umbria, Italy, we bring learning about Permaculture into its right context. You will not only become an accredited permaculturist by successfully completing the course, but you'll be able to put all the theories into practice on the 40 acres of available permaculture gardens, urban gardens, orchards, with the animals and in the local kitchen.
The 2018 course will be our second Permaculture Design Course held at Monestevole and we are looking forward to building on the design insights and land restoration techniques applied last year.
Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy, with lush, sustainably managed landscapes and woodlands.
Course Content
The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is a 72-hour internationally recognised training engaging head, heart and hands of participants to discover the principles and techniques of Permaculture. It explores the patterns of our predominant consumerist culture and compares them to the sustainable and regenerative patterns of the natural world. Permaculture offers us practical tools for creating change in our own lives and the wider world around us.
The curriculum explores the whole field of sustainability and the regeneration of land and culture. Topics covered include:
- Ethics & principles of Permaculture
- Observation techniques for connecting to & understanding ecology, climate & landscape
- Permaculture design methods and tools
- Mapping & design exercises
- Soil science, soil food web & natural soil improvement
- Organic food production & integrated animal systems
- Water management including harvesting, conservation, & management
- Land regeneration
- Agroforestry & forest gardening
- Appropriate technologies & renewable energy systems
- Urban permaculture including techniques & design strategies
- People & permaculture: personal patterns & the art of collaboration
The course caters for all learning styles, including demonstrations, practical exercises, group work, lectures and slide shows. As part of the course participants will work in groups on a design project to put their learning into practice.
More About the Certificate
Participants will receive an internationally recognised Permaculture Design Course Certificate awarded by the UK Permaculture Association.
This certificate is the standard within the Permaculture movement and is required if you would like to go on and study for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.
Permaculture opens doors to a new vision for our planet. Joining the Permaculture movement can lead on to developing a passion into work. It allows you to build the practices into the work you are currently doing or discover new strands of work such as land regeneration, ecological consultancy, community gardening, garden and landscape design, renewable energy and appropriate technology consultant and more.
Your Tutors
Michel Thill
Lead tutor on the course will be Michel Thill. Michel (or Mish) is based in London where he is running a permaculture project, called Social Landscapes, exploring predominantly urban regeneration. In this work he engages the community in learning about permaculture and recreating a village identity. He is actively involved in other local groups such as the Open Orchard Project, planting fruit trees in public spaces, and Transition Town Brixton, supporting the move away from fossil fuel to a more sustainable and communal future.
He has previously worked at the Panya Project, a Permaculture education centre in Thailand, completed is Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design with the UK Permaculture Association and studied Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning in Germany. In his thesis at University he explored the socio-ecological dimension of large scale ecosystem restoration projects.
Michel is a registered certified Permaculture teacher with the UK Permaculture Association and has thought in the UK, Thailand, Greece and Spain.
Monestevole
eco-lux living in the green heart of Italy
"Our goal at Tribewanted Monestevole is to show that it is possible to live sustainably, not just in remote locations and developing countries, but also in our own back yard. We want to provide a replicable model for sustainable lifestyles where it is needed the most, to be an example of how our society can live in the years to come.
In Italy, we also aspire to preserve and enhance local artisanal skills and inspire the Italian youth to return to the countryside, whilst at the same time providing our guests with an accessible location to learn, get their hands dirty and bring the lessons home."
Read more about Monestevole here.
Prices & Registration
Prices start at 1000 euros and include 13 nights' accommodation, all meals and house wine and the PDC certification course.
Please register your interest below or send queries to Michel from Social Landscapes by sending an email to michel@sociallandscapes.co.uk.
To sign up to the course you'll be asked to pay a 200 euro deposit to Social Landscapes Community Interest Company and the remaining balance at a later date to Tribeswanted Monestevole.
To join us for the following practical week (find more information here), you'll pay an extra 100 euros to Social Landscapes and an extra 300 to Tribeswanted Monestevole.