Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course

Why include a review of a Permaculture course on this site? Permaculture is far more than environmentally sustainable building and growing – it redefines the way that you view problems and their solutions. You are actually reprogramming your brain in a way that incorporates a whole systems approach to challenges instead of just looking at single problems and disconnected ideas. At the core, this course reminds you that all aspects of your life are interlinked, and that your personal impact, of attitude and economy, is much larger than you know.

Granted, its hard for anyone to find $1,500 and 10 days to take off work, school, household chores, and/or family.  There are other courses that involve weekends, and even a few colleges and city colleges are offering a much cheaper alternative to taking a Permaculture Design Course.

But in my opinion, if you want the real-deal, find yourself an immersion course where you stay on the property with 10-30 other students, engage the 72 hours of classroom material in a back-to-back setting and spend 10 days drinking, eating and breathing Permaculture.

I had the great honor to take my first course at Quail Springs’ maiden journey, taught by world-famous permaculturalists Darren Doherty and Geoff Lawton, both of Australia origin.

A bit of emotional challenge came up when I was introduced to more problems than I knew the earth had: soil loss, the real story of generating petroleum-based fertilizer, mono-cropping, and the story of food (all of this before Food, Inc. was released).  But it was only a few hours before the solutions started pouring forth.

I wondered, “why isn’t this taught in school as mandatory curriculum?”  “Why isn’t this brought to world leaders as actual, scientific solutions to many of today’s problems?”  I still wonder.  But I realize the bigger work is making these ideas mainstream.

Permaculture is the design science of sustainability.  It involves integrated systems of power, food, water, and waste.  It has an amazing array of values, mantras, and slogans, all pointing towards being more than sustainable, to actual be regenerative: to leave the planet, the economy, the neighborhood better than we found it.

This is more than education about sustainability, it can inspire business development and an entirely new lifestyle.  It did for me; it introduced the how-to of composting, rainwater catchment and symbiotic gardening.  More over, it introduced me to a diverse new community ranging from architects to natural builders to lawyers to computer scientists.