The Copyrighted word Permaculture... …as it appears on Bill Mollison’s Tagari website of the Permaculture Institute of Australia:
About the word PERMACULTURE (Copyright)
Permaculture is a word coined by the author, Bill Mollison. Its copyright is vested in the Permaculture Institutes and their College of graduates, and is guarded by them for the purposes of consistent education.
Copyright was deliberately sought, and the unique name coined, so that this system of education could not be pre-empted by existing institutions or government agencies, but belongs to certified individuals and Permaculture Institutes (as corporate bodies). The intention of the copyright is to maintain the integrity of the educational area (with its considerable goodwill) for those who know the content of a Permaculture Design Course (PDC).
A person must be a Design Course graduate to use this name.
About Certification
...as understood by Bill Wilson
Certification has been a part of design course completion for decades now. In the early days, Bill Mollison would train people, give them certification, and invite them to go forth and immerse themselves into the fundamentals and art of permaculture. If and when they felt ready to teach and to offer their own Permaculture Design Certification Courses, he encouraged them to do so. As a result of this, there are generations of students becoming teachers.
One of the results of this natural trust in human ability and integrity is that some of those who picked up the teaching torch were not either very good teachers or they failed to present all of the information contained within the design course curriculum. Mollison started receiving complaints about the quality of "his" courses. This was probably an inevitability since some of the graduates of design courses are very enthusiastic but not necessarily effective teachers.
Mollison eventually began to certify and register instructors but by that time there were already quite a few teachers out there with varying abilities. Some went to the trouble to be certified through Mollison’s Permaculture Institute of Australia but in the US, the majority did not.
What we have found is that there are some excellent permaculture teachers out there that have not been certified by Mollison. We also know of some Mollison registered teachers who deliver mediocre courses.
Bottom line…The student is left with the task of looking into the course options available to them, and then following their own intuition and judgment.
Permaculture Certification
Wayne Weiseman, a life long permaculturist and experienced teacher, will lead all 5 of our 2009 Design Certification Courses.
Wayne has been authorized by the
Permaculture Institute of Australia (Mollison's Founding Organization)
to teach and grant PDC certification and receives constant praise from students as being an excellent teacher.
Each certificate that Wayne grants is dated, numbered and registered. Should a student, or anyone they send to us, request verification of their satisfactory completion of this training, we are happy to forward this information along
at no charge.
Feel free to email or call should you have further questions about certification.
Bill Wilson, Jan.09
815-256-2215
What Does Design Course Certification Enable you to Do?
With this certification you may use the word 'permaculture' in the promotion of your work or business. Certification states the obvious, that you have completed the full 72-hour design course curriculum. This does not make you a certified permaculture designer however. To our knowledge, there is no agency or program that certifies someone as an official, licensed designer.
That being said, You may choose to offer your services as a beginning permaculture designer to home owners, land owners or businesses to the extent you feel experienced, knowledgeable and capable. What you charge is up to you and the people you do the design work for. However, since the quality of your design work and service reflects upon the entire permaculture community, we encourage everyone to operate with the integrity and openness that is at the heart of this work.
What Does Design Course Certification Enable you NOT to Do?
We welcome and encourage every design course graduate to put their new educational experience to work and to gain as much 'hands-on' knowledge as possible. If and when the student is ready, they should feel confident in offering workshops, seminars or trainings in permaculture in those areas where they are competent. However, this certification does not authorize you to teach a full design certification course and to award PDC Certification to others. Design course teachers are traditionally certified or registered to do this work by one of several long-standing permaculture organizations and individuals. Our lead instructor, Wayne Weiseman, is registered through Bill Mollison's Permaculture Institute of Australia.
The Opportunity Before Us...
Because permaculture is a relatively new field, there are few 'job' opportunities listed in the employment ads for permaculture designers. Please do not take a course thinking there will be an automatic job for you at the other end.
The opportunity however is that design course graduates have the right to start their own business immediately, whether it be in consulting, designing, design implementation or teaching. The only thing holding one back would be a persons knowledge base, experience and personal skills, all of which are available to everyone if we but step into learning and doing.
Permaculture is a life-long journey and a way of looking at, and living, life. There is no end to the depth of experience and service we might render to ourselves, our communities and the world, especially given the current state of things. We need people who are able to think and design in terms on long-term sustainable solutions. For those who can do this, there appears to be great opportunity, ultimate security and the satisfaction of doing work that really does matter in the world.
This work is real. This work is lasting. This work is needed.
