Redesigning Our Lives, as if Caring for the Planet Mattered...
|
Redesigning Our Lives, as if Caring for the Planet Mattered...
Midwest Permaculture |
Design Course
|
a Beth Rizzi -42 |
a |
Principals and Ethics of Permaculture
Observations and Patterns
Soils, Plants, and Trees
Guilds and Polycultures
Water and Earthworks
Climates and Micro-climates
Succession
Eco-Building
Zone and Sector Analysis
Aquaculture
Planning the Homestead
Bio-Fuels
Economics
Niche Marketing
Urban and Suburban Permaculture
Garden Management
Small-Farm Strategies
Large-Farm Possibilities
International Implications
More….
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
About Midwest Permaculture's
|
a "...they thought that I've been involved with permaculture for at least 5 years. Cindi M. - 40 - Mom and Small Business Owner |
Webinars and Self-Study Make the Course More Feasible for Many --
Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) requires up to 72-hours of actual instruction and training. We have students come to our design courses with a wide spectrum of experience and knowledge. Some have been working with the land & plants and in different climates, others are alternative energy or green building experts, or others are active community organizers. However, many, if not most of our students come to a course with little of this practical experience at all, but they do have a strong desire and willingness to learn.
Our PDC courses are designed to accommodate as many different people as possible without holding anyone back or pushing anyone too hard. What makes this possible is the self-study features of our trainings.
Webinars:
All students receive The Foundations of Permaculture Webinars Series (18-Recorded Hours) lead by certifying instructors Bill Wilson and Wayne Weiseman. These complement the course text and give students an great foundational understanding of permaculture in preparation for their on-site training.
 |
This means that our students will be able to receive a powerful-certification training with only 8-days |
Each PDC Course in 2010 will also receive 2 live Webinars as part of their training. See the webpage regarding each PDC Course for additional details and dates.
Click here to Learn More About Our Webinars
Option to 8-Day PDC |
Course Text For the experienced permaculture student this text is a great step-by-step review of the design process. |
 |
Advanced Study
However, if a student decides to do more advanced study into any aspect of the curriculum and needs extra guidance, our lead instructor Wayne Weiseman can steer you towards research, texts or other resources.
150 Permaculture Questions - A Self-Study Guide
How does one know if they have an understanding of the fundamentals of permaculture and of the design process? Each registered student receives a self-study guidance tool of 150 permaculture questions created by Wayne Weiseman and Bill Wilson. As you go through your reading assignments and webinars, these 150 questions will help guide you toward the most important things you should know and remember about permaculture. If you can answer these 150 questions, you can be confident that you have the foundational understanding that comes with a PDC certification training.
On-Site Design Work
In design certification courses, it would be easy to spend the entire time in a classroom on lectures. Because the information is so compelling it is likely a student would return home feeling enriched by their PDC experience but still not feeling confident in designing their own projects.
Because we will have covered so much ground before the on-site portion of a course with the webinars and the guided self-study, we have set aside the equivalent of three days of each course for permaculture design exercises and actual design work. Final Design Projects |
 |
a |
Begin Immediately
A student's Design Certification Training begins when they register for a course. WIthin 24-hours, students receive a welcome email that gives them immediate access to the recorded webinars and links to over 2-dozen handouts from Bill and Wayne to enjoy while waiting for the course textbook to arrive via snail mail.
What Subjects are Covered in a
Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) Course?
There is a lot of ground to cover in a PDC. Permaculture is about looking at ways to integrate many different elements into sustainable ways of living, so even though we might not go into minute details, we look into many subjects and continually look for ways to integrate these different elements into our permaculture designs. Some of the subject areas covered are:
|
a Trevor J. -20- Sustainable Ag student, MSU |
Regardless of the subject area being explored, these fundamental permaculture design principles will be revisited regularly:
A Focus on the Fundamentals
What is important to understand about a full-design-certification course is that all the basic principles and ideas behind a permaculture approach or design must be covered to meet Mollison’s requirements for certification. So, it doesn't really matter if you take a design course in Illinois, California, Arizona, Hawaii or Australia, you should be exposed to all the fundamentals which will allow you to begin to create a permaculture design for just about any piece of property or location on the planet. The fundamentals and the principles don’t change.
Temperate Midwestern Climate
That being said, we still feel that it is nice to narrow down the focus for different courses. For those folks that have a large piece of land, or those with an acre or two, or those who live in the suburbs or city — if the course one takes uses permaculture examples that are specific to one of these areas, the student tends to get more out of the course. It is also a bit of a challenge if there are big climate or bio-regional differences between where one lives and where one takes their course. Again, the principles don’t change but our courses will tend to emphasize examples and factors related to the temperate climate zone that most of the Midwest (and many other regions of the globe) have in common. If you live in a area that freezes in the winter, our courses will tend to cater to those climate factors.
a Sean Kearsey-45, Homeowner with 2-Acres |
Certification
Students who complete one of our courses will receive what is known as PDC Certification. This demonstrates the commitment you have made to the study of the subject of permaculture and earns you the right to use the word ‘permaculture’ in the promotion of your work, craft or knowledge base.
Click here for more on PDC Certification.
What We Wish to Transfer to Our Students
|
Our courses will naturally vary somewhat by location but the high quality of the teaching will remain the same. The courses differ by:
Every course we host has a full description of their individual details. See the linked schedule above or scroll over the main navigation menu on the left-hand side of most pages. |
a Ron Nowicki—60– Landscape architect |
Continuing Support Following Graduation
Students who have completed a Midwest Permaculture design course are then invited to become part of our growing network of graduates. We have a separate website where all our most recent and past students can connect, share ideas and look for some assistance. We also host occasional reunions for all of our PDC graduates . This is a wonderful way to network with fellow permaculturists who have been through a similar learning experience.
Our graduates are invited to audit any future 72-hour certification courses at half price (provided that there is room). Our objective is to support our students for as long as they need it or want it, and to encourage them to support each other.
Already A Permaculture Design Course Graduate?
We do offer a 33% discount to students who have already graduated from any other recognized PDC course (from anywhere in the world) who wish to take a Midwest Permaculture course as a refresher. The discount only applies if there are open slots in the intended course. Please email for details.
|
