permaculture

[Michael Kramer <michael@naturalinvesting.com>]

Non-residential courses can work very well, and in fact, I would like to 
suggest
that we need more such courses more than anything in this country, because 
they
would be more accessible to average working people.  Very few people would 
use up
their entire annual vacation to take a residential course of any kind.

When I was with Permaculture Drylands Institute, that was our primary format, 
4
weekends every other week, and we attracted a lot of mainstream people -
architects, planners, non-profit staff, etc.  While students didn't get the 
same
immersion experience as folks in a residential course, the format did bring
people together nicely.  I even discovered that sometimes design teams would 
meet
on their own between weekends.  The key, actually, especially if different
instructors cover different weekends, is that the instructors communicate 
between
weekends to help make smooth transitions and ensure that nothing is 
duplicated or
avoided.

Michael Kramer
Natural Investment Services
www.NaturalInvesting.com