6 weekends between April 10th and October 24th 2021
in South London, incl. one 2-night residential in Kent
plus some optional afternoon gardening sessions
The Permaculture Design Course is a 72-hour often life-changing experience, accredited by the UK Permaculture Association.
Over the period of 6 months we will come together as a learning community to explore practical and creative solutions for building resilient neighbourhoods and designing abundant eco-systems.
We will discover how we can work with, rather than against nature to fulfil our human needs whilst caring for the earth and the people.
The course has a strong practical emphasis on ecological and social design thinking and how this can be applied in different parts of our life and society.
The course offers us the opportunity to face the predicaments of climate breakdown and the biodiversity crisis and form our own healthy response to these challenges.
“I feel like I know a secret and want to share it with the world”
Dates & Learning Journey
On each of the days (except the residential) we’re meeting at 10 am and finish at 5.30 pm with occasional evening sessions.
The residential is at the Quadrangle Trust in Kent, easily accessible from London. On the residential weekend we’re meeting on Friday night between 6.30 and 7.30pm and will leave the Quadrangle by 5.30pm on the Sunday.
To receive the certificate, there is a requirement of making at least 10 of the 12 days, including the first two and the last two on which participants will present their designs. Participants missing time are required to demonstrate they caught up on missed learning.
You will be working in small groups to complete a design project. There is design time on the various weekends to complete the project. You might also decide as a group to do some extra work between the weekend. You will be given extra material to explore in between the weekends to further your learning in your own time.
There will be optional sessions on the basics of Organic Permaculture Gardening at Roupell Park Estate. These sessions are free to Permaculture Design Course participants and to the residents of Roupell Park Estate. Dates will be announced.
See pictures from some of our previous courses here:
Venue - Roupell Park Estate and others
The community at Roupell Park working together to green the estate.
Most of the course will take place on Roupell Park Estate just off Brixton Hill. Next to the Roupell Park Community Centre at Hyperion House on the estate, Social Landscapes has engaged residents to regenerate a neglected green space. On the course we will design for other green spaces on the estate, engage residents and get our hands in with making things happen for the local community.
Roupell Park Estate has a very diverse community with around 62% of tenants being from black and minority ethnic communities. The management of the estate are committed to investing in the green infrastructure on the state and improving the lives of the residents. This is the perfect place for us to learn about permaculture principles and using our learning to support their vision of ‘Greening the Estate’.
As mentioned above, we will also spend a residential weekend at the Quadrangle Trust in Kent. Watch the video for a little flavour of the Permaculture and restoration work the Quadrangle has been doing.
What will the course cover?
“Permaculture is a dance with nature - in which nature leads.”
Much of our Permaculture Design Course is focused around our most fundamental human needs. The design methodology and the Permaculture principles that are thought can be used by anyone and be integrated in any job or life situation, far beyond gardening. You will learn about the Permaculture way of setting up food systems, interacting with the natural world, building community, organising people, learning – all of that inspired by the example of the natural world.
Topics covered on the course include, but are not limited to:
• Ethics and principles of permaculture
• Systems thinking, design process and methodology
• Soil structure, ecology and land regeneration
• Cultivated ecology: gardens and farms, agroforestry
• Climate Crisis & Appropriate Response
• Community dynamics & organisation
• Personal health and healthy societies
• Building effective learning groups
• Urban challenges and urban permaculture, including retrofitting
• Energy conservation and renewable energy
Each weekend includes theory and some practical hands on work. There will be plenty of design time and participants will work in groups to design a project. The designs will be presented on the last two days of the course to the rest of the group and potentially to our clients. During the design sessions you will have the opportunity to integrate the things you learn during the course and you will have support from the tutors.
We will share handouts and other helpful information on an online learning platform, offer opportunities to volunteer at local projects and encourage you to build learning groups with other course participants to support each other through sharing, experimenting and reflecting.
Tutors
Lead tutor of the course is Michel Thill.
Michel has studied Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning with a special interest in the relationship between ecological and cultural renewal. He's come across Permaculture during his studies and was drawn to its ability to bring together ecological design, community/village building, social justice and personal change.
Michel has travelled extensively, staying in eco-communities across India and South-East Asia as well as Europe, learning about and applying Permaculture Design and Deep Ecology ideas and knowledge wherever possible.
Michel lives in South Devon applying Permaculture Design to land-based projects. Before that he was based in London teaching Permaculture and running various community and food growing projects through Social Landscapes. Inspired by Permaculture, Forest Gardening and Ecovillage Design principles, Social Landscapes seeks to create flourishing and resilient micro-cultures within London through transformative Permaculture training and engaging people in the outdoors to reinvent the public spaces they live in.
Michel has been teaching Permaculture and Deep Ecology across Europe over the last couple of years. He sees permaculture as a dance with nature, where nature takes the lead to create more harmonious places and futures for all.
Regular co-facilitators and support team include:
What do past participants say?
“The course was a fantastic learning process and a truly enjoyable experience. The tutors were very knowledgeable and transmitted Permaculture as an approach to living, thinking, doing, making and being. The ethics, principles and thinking tools of Permaculture have become a new mindset.” – Raquel, PhD student in Food Policy
"It has completely changed my perspective towards every aspect of my life: my health, my relationship with family and friends, my relationship with the Earth." - Anonymous
“An inspirational personal growth adventure that I would recommend to everyone. The urban PDC is particularly useful for building practice into your daily lives and offers a response to many issues that we are facing whilst building a supportive family and community of Permaculture practisers to encourage future creativity. The tutors are the warmest and exciting people and Treadwell is a space of calm, enthusiasm and mindfulness. “ – Sam
"The course gave me direction and the opportunity of transforming a passion into a job." - Anonymous
“Studying the Permaculture method within an urban context was both empowering and thought-provoking. Presented with such realistic opportunities for positive change within the confines of the city and studying with likeminded people was extremely heartwarming. The mixture of practical and theory along with passionate teachers and guest speakers plus a variety of venues kept my interest and allowed for genuine integration of the teachings. I’m well prepared for continued use of the Permaculture tools and happily supported by the community that I’m now a part of, I cannot recommend this course enough.” – Zoe, Finance Assistant at Comic Relief
Pricing & Registration
To register for the course, please fill in the form below. We will then be in touch with details about the course and payment. The payment will complete your registration and secure your place. Please be aware that this course overbooked last year - so book early to guarantee your spot.
If there are any questions, please contact Michel michel@sociallandscapes.co.uk or 07901036220.
The course is offered on a sliding scale to make it affordable for everyone. Payment by instalments is also possible, in which case you will be asked to have paid half the course fee before the first day of the course in April 2020.
Please make your choice of price with awareness to what it’s worth: the course offers 72 hours of teaching plus optional sessions that are free to course participants; there will be multiple facilitators on each of the weekends bringing with them a wide range of knowledge and experience; we spend a weekend away in a beautiful location where all food is included; and you’ll walk away with a Permaculture Design Certificate awarded by the UK Permaculture Association. Paying the normal fee of £540 is a total of £45 per day of the course and just covers our cost (incl. basic pay for the facilitation team). Paying £720 enables the facilitators (esp. those assisting) to be paid more and opens up concessions for people not being able to afford the full price.
If you can’t afford any of these, incl. the concession, please consider raising money for the course or get in touch to explain your case and we can see how we can make it work.
You can’t afford to pay for the course? Why not raise money for it, either through ‘We The Trees’ or through your own means. The course total will only need to be paid by September 2020.
The income brackets below are loose guidelines.
Concession – £380 - please note that there is only a limited number of these available
Income below 25000pa – £540
Income more than £25000pa or ‘pay it forward’ option – £720
This course was first scheduled for 2020 but was then postponed to 2021 because of COVID. It is now fully booked.
We have a few spots reserved for Roupell Park residents - let us know in the form below if that is you.
By signing up below, you’ll add your name to the waiting list and we’ll contact you in case a spot opens up. We are also looking at potentially running a parallel course on mostly weekdays, if of interest, get yourself signed up below as well.
Please also have a look at our other available courses including an online Permaculture design Course.
Please click here to see our Cancellation & Refund Policy.