Courses

Our Permaculture Design Course will equip you with the ability to confront cultural, environmental and energy-supply change and provide you with the tools to become a more sustainable and energy efficient member of the community.

An intensive, urban-focused foundation course offering in-depth theory and practical experience as a comprehensive introduction to Permaculture Design for urban environments.

Permaculture is set of principles that result in sustainable and productive systems. Systems for living, architecture, food production, land management and community. No chemicals and no excuses. Just good, thoughtful, innovative and effective design for the needs of our species.

"What Permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet." - Dr. David Suzuki (venerated ecologist, geneticist, author + broadcaster)

About our Part-Time format:

We're presenting this PDC in a format that allows you to really intergrate Permaculture into your daily life,  one day per week, for 12 consecutive weeks. Choose from either the Saturday class or the Sunday class, whichever suits you best. And if you need to swap days for a week, that's no problem.

We're offering this PDC in this way because we recognise not everyone can take 2 weeks out of life to do one of our on-farm PDCs. Plus for some, one day a week is just a better style of learning. Our PDC courses are an intensive learning experience that for some are best absorbed bit by bit, which gives you time for both contemplation and action so that you can truly put Permaculture into practice as a result of your PDC experience.

About this Permaculture Design Course:

This PDC will be taught in combination within both a classroom and a community garden environment, incorporating design exercises and practical workshops. While the core curriculum of the PDC will remain the same as our on-farm courses at Milkwood Farm, this PDC will focus on Permaculture in the urban context.

Examples of designing for energy conservation, food production systems, nutrient cycling, holding water in the landscape and community strategies for resilience will all be addressed with urban examples. All workshops during the course will also focus on Permaculture in practice within city and suburban areas.

Our PDC is based on the curriculum set out by the Permaculture Institute, and uses Bill Mollison's "Permaculture: A Designers Manual" as its central text. We also blend into this curriculum new material from a range of other world-leading thinkers and activators on subjects like transition, food security, regenerative agriculture, urban water harvesting and many more.

All Milkwood Permaculture PDCs are FarmReady approved, making them free for Farmers, Landholders, Primary Producers and their families to attend. See our FarmReady page to see if you're eligible.

Sessions will include the following:

• 

  Permaculture principles and ethics
• Permaculture design for urban and rural situations
• Creating a balanced soil food web
• Pattern Understanding
• Designing water into landscape (or streetscape)
• Passive water harvesting and drought-proofing
  
• Intensive food and animal systems
• Orchard and food forest design
  
• System planning + intergration
  
• Design for different biospheres: tropics / drylands / cool climates
• Appropriate technologies for future communities
  
• Trees, water and energy cycling
• Strategies for building healthy, resilient communities
• Site visits to wonderful Permaculture gardens and amazing community initiatives
  

About the teachers for this course:

This course will be taught by Nick Ritar of Milkwood Permaculture, and other special guests. Nick Ritar is at the forefront of a new generation of Permaculture teachers working on the edge of what Permaculture can do to restore landscapes and create abundance in almost any environment on earth.

Nick works and teaches extensively in a wide range of bioregions, farms, watersheds and city environments, and is a leading advocate and educator on how Permaculture principles can provide food security through sustainable farming practices both in country and city environments.

Guest teachers include: Cam Wilson of Permablitz, Penny Pyett of Permaculture Sydney North, Russ Grayson of Australian Community Gardens Network and Michele Margolis of Transition Marrickville; this PDC might just redefine how you co-exist with your city.

Included in your course fee:

Your course fee includes workshops for the duration of the course and tea + coffee + fruit during the day. For lunches, we usually put in a joint order to a great little organic cafe around the corner, LoveGrub - or feel free to bring your own.

We also make available an extensive library of Permaculture and associated texts, which students are welcome to browse, borrow and work with throughout the course. You can also buy a discounted copy of the course text Permaculture: A Designers Manual at your course.

Course dates:

Saturday class: 9am - 5pm each Saturday from May 29th until August 14th 2010 (12 days in total)

Sunday class: 9am - 5pm each Sunday from May 30th until August 15th 2010 (12 days in total)

Once you book in we will contact you about which class you'd like to be in. If you need to swap classes for a week or so that's no problem, just let us know. Please book early as places are strictly limited.

Booking into the course

To secure your spot in the Sydney Winter PDC (Part time) course pay the full course fee of $1400. Click the green button at right to pay via PayPal or your credit card.

In keeping with the permaculture ethic of 'fair share', we're also offering substantial discounts to members of permaculture groups, community gardens and other community groups in the Sydney basin. Contact us for details.