Permaculture Design Course

Creating and Designing a Sustainable World

Two-Month Residential Work Scholar Program

May 4th –June 29th,  2008

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable and regenerative Human settlements. In today’s world we ask ourselves how can we be apart of the solution and not the problem? What exactly does it mean to create a more sustainable culture and what can I do to affect real change? The answers and solutions will be explored through these two month-long Permaculture intensives.  Together scholars and teachers will create a very open and inviting learning environment that will include presentations, discussion, activities, and hands-on projects.

Benjamin Fahrer (benjammin) will facilitate this powerful and transformative journey along with an dozen of California’s premier Permaculture teachers, including  Kat Steele, Brock Dolman, Mia Rose-Maltz, Erik Ohlsen, Starhawk, Dave Henson, Trathen Heckman, Adam Wolpert, Kate Lundquist and other special guests.

The learned skills include base understanding of design and development principles involved with small and large-scale applications.

Successful completion of the two months of study, you will be considered a graduate of the Permaculture Design Course (PDC).  This course is certified through the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. As a graduate, you will possess the skills to design, consult and teach Permaculture anywhere in the world. No previous experience is necessary, only the desire to Be the change you wish to see in the world.

For an application and more information contact Esalen

Work Scholars perform 32 hrs workweeks and receive instruction,

 residence at Esalen  which includes all meals and accommodations.

Cost  is $1095 per month

Principles and Practices.

May 4 -June 1, 2008

This first month will focus on the concepts and methods of designing a more sustainable life and world in which to live. A comprehensive introduction to Permaculture Design will lead participants through the principles and practices and explore how the natural elements contribute to a well-designed system. Topics and activities include:

·       Personal sustainability for a balanced life

·       Effective communication and interpersonal skills for strong relationships

·       Reading the land: identification and classification of land components

·       Earth stewardship: soil renovation, restoration, and composting

·       Hands-on intensive in "natural" buildings and earthen construction

·       Trees and their energy transactions

·       Water awareness: health and conservation

 This integrated approach combines the legacy of Esalen's intrapersonal development with how we interact with our environment. Participants will be empowered with the confidence to live and function in a more just, sacred, and sustainable future.

($75 materials fee for the Permaculture Designers Manual that accompanies this course; other handbooks and materials are provided.)

 Design and Implementation.

June 1–June 29 2008

As the season changes from spring to summer, work-scholars can dive deeply into specific elements within the physical and social realms of our culture and how they relate to one another. If you are already experienced in Permaculture or other methods of sustainability, this program will provide a refreshing perspective to your practice. Participants will work on and produce a design for different aspects of Esalen's new commitment to long-term goals of self-reliance and sustainability. Topics of focus and activities include:

·       Growing and sustaining communities and eco-village design

·       Growing food: whole and organic farming, food foresting, animal and aquaculture systems

·       Property management and planning from the tropics to the deserts

·       Planning and designing for catastrophe

·       Professional consultancy and computer mapping

·       Strategies of an alternative global nation

If you need direction in this overwhelming time of great change, this program can empower you to green your life and to be a valuable contribution to the movement and your community.