23 March 2019, 4 April 2020
The Design Project is your chance to apply what you’ve learned about permaculture to a real life project that is meaningful to you.
On this last day, friends, family and past graduates are invited as participants present their design projects, receive their certificates and we all celebrate over lunch.
This is the day to share what you’ve been studying for a year and perhaps offer inspiration to community members new to permaculture.
The scope for the individual design projects is as wide as permaculture: urban, suburban, rural, social, financial; a networking web site, a garden, an educational program, a waste management strategy. If you are joining the program, you’ll want to be thinking about possibilities for your project from the start of the course.
Participants present their project ideas for approval about half way thru the program. Expect to spend a minimum of 20 hours on your project over the year. Note – this is purely a project in designing, implementation is not required; and you can do the project on your own or as part of a team. Help and consultation is available throughout the course.
Feedback
“ My advice about your project is to keep it simple. I was reading thru my notes from last year. I did not keep it simple. I ended up getting overwhelmed. As I went thru the different modules, like the water module, I thought ”Oh, now I can incorporate a mudslide, (which I tried and it was a disaster)…” But I recommend that you just keep going back to the first principle of observation, sit on your property and just look. That’s what helped me keep my first design manageable.” Bobbie Kincaid, a 2014 Graduate
“Big thanks to Plenty Permaculture, Catherine Dunton-McLeod and Neville Dunton-Mcleod for ask your support and facilitating such an awesome transformative experience. Big thanks to Katherine Kennard too! Thanks for being such and easy designer to communicate assigns work with. We stuck at it and we did good!” Billy Roy 2017 graduate
After you earn your certificate:
Having earned your Permaculture Design Certificate, you are invited to join the BOP Permablitz design guild. Many graduates find that by doing multiple volunteer designs for Permablitz, they start to expand their range and build their confidence as designers. You normally work along side a senior guild member for your first couple of designs to assure you are not missing any steps.
Plenty Permaculture also offers numerous “living skills” workshops each year, a chance to learn a new skill or delve more deeply into topics like Biointensive gardening, how to use a microscope, how to prune fruit trees and understanding soils. Subscribe to the mailing list to be kept updated.
Most years, we host a 2.5 day Advanced Permaculture Design workshop, led by senior permaculture teacher Dan Palmer, within 5-6 months of your course ending. This catapults most people into a whole new level of what’s possible with design and if you choose, the world of the professional designer. We cannot recommended this workshop highly enough.
For those who want to take their permaculture education further, a two year permaculture diploma is available through Permaculture in New Zealand, PiNZ.
