TERRA PERMA PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE (PDC) INFORMATION

- BOOKINGS CLOSED FOR 2018 -

Thanks for your interest in our Permaculture Design Course.  Unfortunately Terra Perma does not currently have a Perth-based PDC course planned at this time as we have recently moved to Pemberton to work on our family farm and are devoting our time over the next 6+ months to setting up our new life down there.  We'll be updating our website over this period to reflect this change in focus and our associated change from urban space education to more rural / farm scale / agriculture  Permaculture applications.

As PDC's come up within the Perth and south west WA regions, they should be added to the information issued by PermacultureWest's, so we'd recommend you kept an eye on either their  Facebook page  or check with the providers who are all listed here on the PermacultureWest website.

As of February 2018, there are the following PDCs available (to the best of our knowledge):
1) The Fair Harvest PDC in April 2018 held in Margaret River.
2) The Perth Educator's Alliance are running a PDC to run May 7th to 18th (See flyer below).

Please get in touch with us via our "Contact Us" form if you have any further queries or would like to be notified of the upcoming Perth PDC.

Best Regards,
Jolene and Charles
The Terra Perma Team

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TP WINTER 2017 PDC -10 day course + Recap day
Wednesday August 2nd to Sunday August 6th
Wednesday August 9th to Sunday August 13th
Typical hours are 9:30 - 17:30 (some days vary)
(Recap Day - Mid Sept - TBC as a group)


Terra Perma Design educators Charles, Jolene, and Fiona run a full time Permaculture Design Course (72hr, 2 week course + recap/presentation day).

Take control of your future and be the change you want to see in the world.  Permaculture thinking and design creates a harmony of human and nature's needs while creating richly productive systems.  Permaculture's founder Bill Mollison maintains, "The problems of the world are becoming increasingly complex but the answers remain embarrassingly simple."


Two presenters (Charles plus Fiona or Jolene) facilitate lessons and activities together, so that with two speakers (and Jolene managing logistics and extra questions) we can effectively address all the needs of the group and provide a very diverse experience base from which to educate. Having more than one presenter also offers more opportunities to gel with a teacher and more opportunities to chat in break times rather than waiting for time with one teacher.

We pride ourselves on creating a practical, engaging, logical, respectful and organised learning environment.  You'll find it quite a technical course and, whilst we do lots of walking discussions, activities and visits to design/ example sites, there will be significant classroom based learning.  As long as this suits your learning style, then you are guaranteed of receiving way too much information rather than being left wanting more.

You are encouraged to ask any questions at any time throughout the course - your questions will be the same as your peers!

Through this course you will become part of the permaculture family.  We’re here to support each other in our journeys, we are all peers in learning with nature the ever present teaching and inspiration.

The course certificate will be awarded on the completion and mentored review of a draft Permaculture design for a location of the student's choosing. 

In response to feedback, a bonus day has now been added to this course.  This day will be dedicated to this review process through discussions with teachers and peers.  The 'presentation day' is scheduled one month after the PDC to enable the digestion and application of the class and practical material in a methodical manner to a specific design space.  Where students are unable to complete their draft in time for the review or are unable to attend, an alternate meeting should be arranged within 6 months of the course's final class session to obtain certification.

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Course Timings
Wednesday to Sunday - two week / 10 day block - has been offered to allow those with heavy work commitments more of a chance to attend (i.e. you can still work your normal  job Monday and Tuesday).  Having Saturday and Sunday as course time also allows us easier travel/traffic for Perth wide tours. Course hours will typically be 9:30 - 5:30 including 1 hour of combined breaks.  We will meet on a weekend approximately one month following the course's final class to review design ideas/progress as the completion point of the course.  This will also serve to reinforce the commitment Terra Perma has for supporting its students beyond the completion of the class content.  

Location
The course will run from our family home in Innaloo (near Stirling Train Station) which is well set up for courses (our last 7 have been held here) and allows us to share more than just the PDC information with you. The location is well setup for medium sized groups with lots of examples to explore just outside the door.  You can get a feel for a functioning 'Permie' household.
Field trips will be included in the course timetable to facilitate experience based learning in those areas not present around our home. If you are catching public transport we will arrange a pickup around 9am and drop-off around 6pm at the train station.

Presenters
Charles, Fiona and Jolene will be the teaching team.   Jolene is the manager of logistics and food (and our two daughters) so has less time for teaching.  We are planning to increase our guest presenter contributions and we love to invite back PDC graduates to gain some experience presenting PDC topics once they feel the desire to try and present their own experiences.  Other venues may include example design sites (1-2 days), Perth City Farm, Environmental Training locations, and/or other site visits to inspirational homes (e.g. Jetto's Patch) or businesses.

 Food
We'll share a delicious range of home made gluten free and vegetarian options for morning and afternoon teas, accompanied by tea and coffee facilities (yes we like proper coffee too!).  For other dietary requirements please contact us prior to booking in.  The food is always a highlight... unless you're dieting :). 

Lunch is BYO, however there are shops/eateries just minutes away with a great range of healthy and exciting food options. Basic cooking/kitchen facilities are onsite for heating, serving and washing as required. We can do a couple of shared lunches (bring a plate to share) for our cooking, surplus harvest and/or cultural treats.  We'll also have a party afternoon on the last day to unwind, seed swap and generally celebrate our group's achievements.

Cost
$1400 gets you:

• 72+ hours of teaching time,
• our 300+ page WA-centric PDC design manual (example section),
• access to seeds and permie plant cuttings to get your ecology pumping,
• and, best of all, immersion in the WA permaculture scene for future reference/support. There is a reason WA permie groups are full of Terra Perma grads, we grow empowered 'be the change' people.

The length and immersion of the topics (trial by ordeal) brings our PDC groups very close together creating the most important and significant 'benefit' of a doing a PDC.  You get peers at the same point in life, and become part of Terra Perma's extended family with its life long Permie support service.

Yes, after this course you will be part of the family and we are here to support each other in our journeys. Having a group of approachable, knowledgeable friends attempting the same life changes is actually the most important thing to come out of your PDC experience, and something online courses can't offer.   Peer support is very important when so many around us are not interested in being a change agent.

We know and openly acknowledge there may be cheaper PDC's in WA, but we are very confident in our value for money. Essentially its <$20 an hour for full access to the most information packed Design Course in WA, a 300+ page design manual, and ongoing Terra Perma grad's peer support network.

Why do a PDC with Terra Perma ?

Terra Perma have had 5 years and ten PDC's to refine our course from regurgitating permaculture curriculum, to actually working permaculture thinking into what people need to know about nature and want to know about living in Perth and rural WA. We are making ecological common sense common again.

We teach everyone to design with Permaculture's toolkit, how much detail you learn on top of that will depend on where you are starting from. With new ways of thinking and patterning like nature you will look at any situation and start designing a better one, it will be your new default setting. Apologies in advance :).

You will leave this course with new eyes, brains and opportunities - just have a look around the WA Permaculture community and see what all the amazing Terra Perma grads are doing!

As most things are learned by doing, you can have access to all the combined wisdom, ingenuity and ideas of Charles, Fiona and others who have learned from both the failure and success of doing.  We try everything that's worth trying and find out what works and what does not!
This is not something that can be read in books and, while you will need to learn this all yourself, hearing our experiences will save you a lot of time.

Many poster-child Permaculture techniques are not suitable for the WA climate/soil, so if one simply copies from the Eastern States and overseas Permaculture books, then failure and disappointment is highly likely.  Over the duration of the course you will learn how to design and adapt these techniques to our unique set of conditions, so you can avoid blindly copying situation specific ideas and fads (e.g. herb spirals, swales, corrugated iron raised beds, elevated hugelkultur, aquaponics, vertical gardens, etc).  As you will learn, in the right situation these are all great techniques, however most are prone to failure in Perth's conditions if not intelligently and situationally adapted.

So you can be assured that we offer a localised, accredited, and design- based PDC.  Land development groups, community gardens, community associations, local councils and private businesses choose us as their ecological, sustainable educator due to our reliability and return on investment.

Permaculture design and ecological thinking is universal and global in its application.  With us, not only will you specialise in Perth urban and peri-urban design, but gain the ecological know how and design processes to apply it anywhere in the world, at any point in your life, and on any scale.  That is the true beauty of Permaculture.

TERRA PERMA DESIGN AUGUST 2017
PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

BOOKINGS CLOSED

Student Designs after previous Terra Perma Permaculture Design Courses

What you will learn on a Terra Perma  PDC.

Nature is the teacher, we are just opening your eyes and justifying the time you will need to allow for this new learning journey.

1. Permaculture ethics (our common ground) and principles (rule of thumb).
2. Solid and universally applicable Permaculture design process.
3. Systems thinking - Allowing the inter-connectedness of design elements.
4. Pattern Understanding - Nature has a tried and tested the design blue  print of most situations, working the human potential into these already effective solutions allows permaculture to be bountiful and accelerated.
5. Understanding the impacts of climate and landscape.
6. All about plants - fun, food, fodder, fuel, "Farmaceuticals", fertliser and basic botany. More importantly you learn how to ask experts the right questions to get what you need for your specific situation. Permaculture Designers are initially a jack of all trades, ecological project manager.
7. Orchard and food forest design.
8. Intro to tree based ag, coppice and other tree farm systems.
9. Understand nature's recycling: Cycling wastes/nutrients, cycling water, & cycling energy.
10. Soil health: Creating a balanced, long term water-holding, mineral-rich, nutrient-storing and life-filled soil.  The first step in any self-sustaining landscape.
11. Designing water into urban/peri-urban landscapes. How to carry out water audits and then design a integrated water supply to meet your needs.
12. Water harvesting and drought-proofing in the home and in the land. Design water-wise urban/peri-urban landscapes: use water where it falls.
13. Rural Farm Design via Darren Doherty's Regrarian Platform.
14. Solar passive home design, with natural materials, techniques,           including existing home modifications.
15. Retrofitting and appropriate Technology and new ideas - Rocket stoves, solar ovens, earth tube air conditioners, containerised gardening.
16. Learn what are appropriate Buildings and Structures.  Plus explore easy to build garden and farm structures, and simple engineering.
17. Learn + practice Permaculture designing, drafting & report writing.
18. Tree-centric design thinking - ecological design.
19. Food production - Intensive annual plants, perennial plants and animal systems.
20. Integrated pest management systems.
21. Small urban livestock animal systems - chooks, worms, rabbits, etc as well as encouraging native helpers.
22. Seed saving, propagation, plant grafting and plant breeding.
23. How to become a Change Agent - Learn the Power of “Just Doing Stuff”.
24. Integrating all this with System planning.
25. Appropriate technologies for future communities.
26. How to participate in and create resilient communities.
27. Local Perth networks, communities and tips and tricks for low impact living.

Still Not Sure ?

  Here is the Table of Contents example of the ever-evolving Design book we have made for you. And an example chapter so you can see the detail.  Plus Jolene has been busily writing a blog about an example PDC to walk you through the topics day by day (ongoing) - go have a read.

These topics are a blend of the traditional PDC topics, but with a new 2017 agenda, a Perth based rationalisation and an attendees' needs-based assessment dictating the time and detail spent on each topic.

Much has changed since Mollison and Holmgren wrote the required Permaculture Design Certificate topic list and Design Manual. The whole world needs saving now - the transition movement has come a long way, legal financial changes have occurred, global food security demands have resulted in land and water grabbing, holistic farming and regenerative agriculture is on the rise, and there is an increasing and unavoidable urbanisation.

If your thinking - That all sounds tricky I am not sure if I am up to it...

No prior experience is necessary to do the PDC, but it can help to have started some background reading and found an excuse to get your hands in the soil.  Simple information sheets have been provided to introduce some of the design ideas.  Please browse our resources and workshop notes here, and items off the subsequent booklist would be worth loaning for a browse.

We advise against buying books at this point.  Once you have our 300+ page manual, you won't need to buy many of the 'permaculture' books as the foundation information is all very similar.  Save your money for special interest texts and reference books later.

We like to tailor the course towards the group's needs to assist all to achieve their goals.  So consider this and make sure you let us know why you're looking to do the PDC, any past experiences & your future goals when you sign up.

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For those who have filled out the booking form and have yet to pay a deposit, please use the following account information:
Direct deposit into P&N Account
Banking BSB:  806-015  
Account number*: 01916156 
Account of: Terra Perma Design
Please use your Last Name plus "WIN17PDC" within the narration box.
(*Note: some banks like a shorter Account Number, so if you get an error please use - Account Number: 1916156)

SOME WORDS FROM OUR RECENT STUDENTS:
- "Best thing you can do to get a thorough understanding of using nature's methods to grow edible food in a complete sustainable system - and have a heap of fun!  You'll leave full of enthusiasm & growing confidence....and probably a few kgs heavier!"
- "I feel everyone needs to learn this information - either if your just a gardener, farmer, eco-conscious, someone buying or building a house,  or just wanting a more sustainable way of living. The information is enriching & simple enough to understand and convey into your own current and future practices."
- "... I have especially enjoyed the group dynamic and networking.  I feel like part of the Permie family ..."
- "This course was an inspiring experience providing a great deal of local knowledge and hands on practice.  It was delivered professionally in a friendly environment and the group dynamics made for a special event."
- "Best course I ever went to and spent money on! My normal life went on standby for two weeks, but I'm feeling I have started on a journey towards my new life."
- "Their passion for the subject is contagious."
- "Attending a PDC helps us understand nature's immense complexity and redirects our role as human beings within it.  You all brought a casual yet informative learning experience which made me feel comfortable and happy to learn."
- "As I had only a little knowledge of Permaculture, all the sections were very valuable to me.  As a result of doing the course I feel more confident about approaching my own projects and using my own designs.  I felt comfortable in the studying environment with the small group and excellent teaching team."
- "The PDC course was a wonderful experience as it has changed my views about so many things related to gardening.  I am glad I am taking some knowledge out of this course as opposed to information."
- "The very easy going, approachable nature of Charles, Jolene, Damien and Shaun along with their immense knowledge make the overall experience incredibly enjoyable, educational and motivating. Thanks."
- "It is inspiring to know that there are solutions that will regenerate this world and that we can all make a difference if we take the steps.  The PDC is a real wake-up call to get-off the crazy hamster wheel of what is the norm nowadays, to live a better, more authentic life.  An excellent eye-opener. A must do for anyone who is looking to lead a more meaningful life."
- "An intelligently presented, well structured course that provides a great introduction to Permaculture."
- "Knowing how to save the world one back yard at a time, empowers me with a feeling of joy.  I can make a difference."

NOTE: A limited number of discounted 'tickets' may be financially sponsored by Terra Perma within a PDC group. This is normally only granted to someone who has offered substantial service to Perth's local permaculture community already but have not been able to afford the design course/certificate.  Typically these are by invitation only.

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ATTENTION PDC GRADUATES -

Please note that we have taken on the concept discussed at the 12th Australasian Permaculture Convergence (2015) of offering heavily discounted 'Refresher' PDC tickets for PDC Grads and would like to formalise this offer for our upcoming PDC's assuming we get viable numbers for the courses.  This was a concept discussed at APC12, where even at the 'beginning of Permaculture', Bill Mollison was very keen to see PDC certificate holders attending as many PDC's as they could to deepen/widen their experiences, evaluate and assist teaching techniques or just cheery pic information as every teacher is strong on different Permaculture topics. Therefore he asked that all courses/teachers offer a limited number of 'cost price' tickets (to viable courses) for 'refreshers', with the idea that those more experienced attendees (PDC holders) could help mentor and train the new attendees as thanks for the discount. Thus the value of the PDC increases for all parties.

Terra Perma refresher PDC pricing would still need to be $600 (Approx cost price of our 300+ page Design book + PCF venue hire + food (morning afternoon teas and drinks for 10 days) + other consumables (parking passes, etc).  This discounted opportunity is only possible once a course is viable as it does not contribute to the educator payment (presenter fees).  Please get in touch to discuss this opportunity if you are interested.

PDC refresher folks are invited to be a silent observer or provide experience within conversations at break time; to assist when the attendees are divided into groups for activities; and give some insight into life after the PDC.  There may be an opportunity to present, should we find a mutually appropriate topic, but this is not expected/enforced. 

Should attendance be negotiated on a per day rate only, you would need to be a "a fly on the wall/observer" as there are many topics (and designs) which run over multiple days and revisiting all of the previous days info is not possible given the impact for the full fee paying students. Clearly we prefer you commit to the full PDC and preference will be given to those that do.

Please contact us directly at info@terraperma.com.au to discuss this opportunity if you are interested.