permaculture

[George Anna Clark <esac@laneta.apc.org>]

Hi Shawn,

almost forgot to ask you for the article regarding teaching core modules... 
we've started giving permaculture courses through the local state 
university (biological sciences college). Brings prices down, but also run 
into a few problems...  Easter break ran into teacher`s day and mother's 
day and I can't remember what else but it turned out to be a five week 
break. And there's the fact we haven't been paid five months 
afterwards...  :)

By the way, the person (Alejandra Caballero) that gives the wonderful 
alternative construction courses in Mexico prices them a bit high to 
subsidize the elementary school that her mother started, totally free for 
children in their low-income neighborhood. She's the sole funder of the 
school, which includes permaculture as part of the curriculum, the 
classrooms are made of strawbale construction, they have urine-diverting 
dry toilets, etc etc. Some civil organizations do the same - advertising 
the expensive courses/services, but not the community work not charged.

There are also just skads of community-oriented local (and not so local) 
radio stations which are very open to environmental issues in general and 
love to hear "fresh" voices. Hope to get more serious about this in the 
future. Hard to explain some concepts without visual aids, but the idea is 
to just get the word out there...

thanks,
george anna

At 08:48 p.m. 15/09/2004, you wrote:
> McFarlandAIA@aol.com

        If anyone is interested in how we made this transition from an 
in-residence
intensive class to a more fragmented allotment of core teaching modules which
can transfered to any available teacher (assuming you have many), please 
let me
know and I will share or post an article written by Dr. Bob Randall of Urban
Harvest about the evolution of our group and its teaching approach.