The essential info

                     Course:     Permaculture Design Course

                                

                         Date:     Commencing Tuesday 5th August - Sunday 7th December 2014

                                         OR

 Commencing Wednesday 13th August - Sunday 14th December 2014

                                

                        Time:    17 Tuesday/Wednesday evenings 6.30 – 9.30pm plus 8 selected Sundays 9.30am –  5pm

                    Contact:     (03) 9389 0124

                      Venue: Classroom sessions will be held in the newly built Van Raay centre.  On excursion days students will meet at the classroom in the morning unless otherwise advised. *Rooms subject to change

           What to bring:  A note pad and pen. Comfortable warm/cool clothing suitable                                                        for outdoor site visits (don’t forget a raincoat, hat, sunscreen and       sturdy footwear)                                          

         What to expect: The course, over 25 sessions covers the full permaculture design process and follows Permaculture Melbourne’s A Syllabus for Permaculture Design in Cool Temperate South-eastern Australia.

The course is more theoretical than practical and includes a mix of classroom presentations, workshops, design exercises, practical exercises and visits to different properties to see Permaculture in action.

The course explores the creation of productive and sustainable ways of living by integrating ecology, organic gardening, architecture, land use, and social systems. Participants will cover the whole PDC curriculum with extra time for urban issues and reading the landscapes of cool temperate south-eastern Australia.

                                    

Earth Users Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow and Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison are recommended reading.

Attendance:              Participants are required to complete the whole course in order to gain a                                      PDC and qualify as a permaculturist.     

Qualification:           Participants who complete the full course earn a Permaculture Design                                     Course and the right to practise as a professional permaculturist. PDC holders may
                                    be able to claim some credits towards Certificates III and IV in Accredited
                                    Permaculture Training^TM.

*There are no pre-requisites for the course but some prior reading is highly recommended.

Meal and break times: There will be a meal break for each session and short tea breaks. Students are asked to self cater. A celebration lunch will be provided on the final day.

                    

Bad weather:  The site visits will take place regardless of the weather conditions.

Cancellation policy: If CERES cancels the course you will be entitled to a 100% refund. Minimum course numbers apply.

If you decide to withdraw 10 days prior to the course date CERES will retain a 10% administration fee.

If you decide to withdraw less than 10 days prior to the course date CERES may retain 100% of your course fee.

Pre-requisites and recommended reading

There are no pre-requisites for the course but some prior reading is highly recommended.

Recommended reading list -  all books available at CERES nursery at 10% discount to enrolled PDC students:

CERES permaculture and bushfood nursery - books

  

Recommended (But optional) introductory reading prior to the PDC:

• Earth Users Guide to Permaculture - Rosemary Morrow ($40)
• Introduction to Permaculture -            Bill Mollison ($42)

*prices subject to change


Other permaculture related texts:

• Permaculture: A Designer's Manual - Bill Mollison
• Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability - David Holmgren
• Permaculture One - Bill Mollison and David Holmgren
• Permaculture Two - Bill Mollison
• Earth Users Guide to Permaculture - Rosemary Morrow
• Basics of Permaculture Design - Ross Mars
• Getting started in permaculture - Ross and Jenny Mars
• The permaculture home garden - Linda Woodrow
• Smart Permaculture Design - Jenny Allen
• Gaia's garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture.  2nd Ed - Toby Hemenway
• City Permaculture: Sustainable living in small spaces. Vol. 1 - Earth Garden Publication

Inspirational or related reading:
(Also available at CERES nursery at 10% off for PDC students)

• The humanure handbook: A guide to composting human manure.  Joseph Jenkins
• The compost book - David and Yvonne Taylor
•  Edible Weeds and Garden Plants of Melbourne - Doris Pozzi
• Fabulous Food from Every Small Garden.  CSIRO - Mary Horsfall
• The transition handbook.  Aust and Nz edition - Rob Hopkins 
• The Earth Gardener's companion - Jackie French
• Easy aquaponics: Backyard fish and food - Earth Garden Books 
• Gardening Down Under: A guide to healthier soils and plants - Graeme Handreck
• The Earth Garden Water Book - Earth Garden Publication
• Botany for gardeners - Brian Capon

Further reading: 
(Not currently available at the nursery but books we would like to stock in future or that our PDC tutors recommend as further reading)

• Rainwater harvesting for drylands vol. 1 and 2 - Brad Lancaster
• Mycelium running - How Mushrooms can help save the world - Paul Stamets
• Liquid Gold - The lore and logic of using urine to grow plants - Carol Steinfeld
• Farmers of Forty Centuries - FH King
• A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopald
• Confessions of a Beach Comber - EJ Banfield
• Pasture Doctor - Jo Millar
• Permaculture Plants - Jeff Nugent
• Create an Oasis with Greywater - Art Ludwig
• The Use of Trees and Shrubs in the Dry Country of Australia - Norman, Hall Chippendale.
• The Complete Australian Bushfire Book - Joan Webster
• Small Earth Dams - Katie Nelson
• Windbreaks - Steve Burke
• Forest Trees of Australia - Hall, Johnston, Chippendale.
• Weeds and what they Tell - Ehrenfried E Pfeiffer
• The New Complete book of Self sufficiency - John Seymour
• Energy From Nature - Peter Pedals
• Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable - Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Qualification

Participants who complete the full course earn a Permaculture Design Course and the right to practise as a professional Permaculturist.                                                 

PDC holders may be able to claim some credits towards Certificates III and IV in Accredited Permaculture Training.

Attendance

Participants are required to complete the whole course in order to gain a PDC and qualify as a Permaculturist. 


         

Topics covered...

COURSE CONTENT

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERMACULTURE CONCEPT

DEFINITIONS & HISTORY           

PERMACULTURE ETHICS

PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL SYSTEMS

ENERGY LAWS & PROCESSES           

GAIA & ECOSYSTEMS           

TREES & FOREST ECOLOGY           

CLIMATES

SOIL ECOLOGY

PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE DESIGN

HOLMGREN’S REVISED PRINCIPLES

DESIGN METHODS

PATTERN RECOGNITION           

READING THE LANDSCAPE – LANDFORMS & WATERCYCLES

GEOLOGY & SOIL PATTERNS           

VEGETATION PATTERNS           

DESIGN PROCESS           

SPATIAL DESIGN TOOLS/ FUNCTIONAL DESIGN TOOLS

DESIGNING LANDSCAPES

DESIGN FEATURES OF LANDSCAPES            

DESIGN OF FIRE-PRONE LANDSCAPES

DESIGNING KITCHEN GARDENS FOR ZONE 1           

DESIGNING ZONE 2 SYSTEMS

GENETIC DIVERSITY IN FOOD CROPS           

TREES IN PERMACULTURE           

ANIMALS IN PERMACULTURE

HARVESTING & STORING WATER           

WATER CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING           

AQUACULTURE

AGRICULTURAL STRATEGIES FOR ZONE 3           

STRATEGIES FOR ZONE 4 & 5

DESIGNING SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS

COMMUNITY STRATEGIES

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS & COMMUNITIES

STRATEGIES FOR ECONOMIC REFORM

DESIGNING BUILT ENVIRONMENTS

URBAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS           

BIO REGIONAL ORGANISATION

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES & RURAL SETTLEMENTS           

PATTERNS IN HOUSING DESIGN

BUILDING MATERIALS           

DESIGN OF FUNCTIONAL BUILDINGS           

APPROPRIATE DOMESTIC TECHNOLOGY

POWER GENERATION & TRANSPORT

IMPLEMENTING PERMACULTURE

WORKING AS A DESIGN CONSULTANT           

BUSINESS STRATEGIES                       

STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

BEYOND THE DESIGN COURSE

What to expect...

This extensive course will cover the whole PDC curriculum with extra time

for urban issues and reading the landscapes of cool temperate south-eastern Australia. The course over 25 sessions covers the full Permaculture Design process and follows Permaculture Melbourne’s A Syllabus for Permaculture Design in Cool Temperate South-eastern Australia.  

 Bill Mollisons’s Permaculture: a Designers’ Manual and David Holmgren’s Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability are the primary texts for this course.  

The course will consist of a mix of classroom presentations, workshops, design exercises, practical exercises and visits to properties to see Permaculture in action.  This year we have added an extra session to specifically look at permaculture in developing countries and the urban agriculture movement.