72 hour Design Course
Permaculture Design Course Syllabus
I follow the syllabus of international 72 hour course that has demonstrated its success over the past 25 years. I never know where my students will end up (where will I end up?) In the short space of time that is the course, we can start to prepare ourselves for anything that the planet decides to offer us ! As well as being alive to different climate zones, we can also become competent at working at the neighbourhood and even regional scales, as well as with our own homes and gardens.
Although this is a global approach, our practice will be local, as will many of the examples and case studies that I use to illustrate the different sessions. The main items we will look at are:
Design – ethics, strategies, methods
Understanding patterns in Nature
Appreciation of natural resources:
* soils
* water
* trees and their energy transactions
Cultivation including aquaculture and silvaculture
Climatic factors
* temperate climates
* drylands
* cool and cold climates
* humid tropics
Earthworks and their use in earth repair
Human settlements
* energy-efficient buildings and architecture
* strategies for urban and rural living
* resource cycling and waste management
* transport and mobility
Human organisation
* effective working groups
* right livelihood
* money and finance, including ethical investment
* legal strategies and trusts
* bio-regional design and organisation
Further breakdown - by module
We will touch on many disciplines. Most of these will give us merely an appreciation of the skills involved. However, the area where we can develop our expertise is in learning to become good designers, working with any number of “experts”. This field is wide open – come and join us in its study and its teaching.
Angus
