permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

On 3/7/05 6:46 AM, "Robert Waldrop" <rmwj@soonernet.com> wrote:

> If I could have my own permaculture wish (where is
> that fairy godmother when you need her?), it would
> be for a way to make permaculture more accessible
> to those with lower incomes.

Permaculture costs nothing to learn or practice,  Only when a person chooses
to get a certificate may there be an expense involved. But Pc courses are
designed to cost as little as possible and far less than other courses. The
weekend (non-residential) courses are generally $30-40 per day of
instruction; this is vastly lower than nearly any workshops I've seen
($100-250 is the norm).

And for those who cannot come up with $30 per day for a weekend course,
every course I know of has work-trade options, making it possible to take
them for no money at all. I've also done courses that were funded by
grants--12 sessions for $40 was how that one worked (and in which several of
the low-income participants dropped out, which rarely happens when people
pay more, suggesting that it's true that we don't value what we don't earn).
I've also seen courses where a low-income person organized the course in
exchange for a greatly reduced fee. Or where they got a grant. Or offered
their home in exchange. There are many, many ways to avoid paying full price
for a certificate; the impediment is the imagination or persistence of the
student, not a lack of money.

Many, if not most, low-income participants in PDCs are well-educated people
who have chosen to be low-income. I rarely see involuntarily, chronically
impoverished people from poverty backgrounds in PDCs, even in those
specifically created for low-income people.

Even the residential PDC (opening this can of worms again) is very cheap at
$1000 for 2 weeks of tuition, food, and lodging. A quick search on the web
shows most courses of that duration are $2500-4000 or more. I know that
$1000 is a lot of money, but there are always ways to take a course for a
great deal less than that. But again, practicing Pc, forming a local guild
to learn from each other, and every option other than taking a certificate
course is free or very cheap.
> 
> Regarding permaculture training, as I understand
> it the basic course is lecture oriented.

Very few of them are anymore. Most are a blend of many learning styles.

> What about an on-line or "distance learning"
> permaculture design course?

Dan Hemenway offers one as do some Australians, but I don't think it costs
much less than a regular PDC because of the time required for an instructor
to evaluate individually each participant's work, rather than in a group.
It's a lot of work for the instructor--I would never have the time to
organize, design, and teach something like that, and it seems like no fun
for the instructor--no interpersonal connections. I've also heard that it's
not much fun taking a course alone. But there's no reason why people
couldn't form an on-line study group, perhaps hiring a more experienced
person to advise or oversee their work.

As I've said before, I'd also like to see Pc become more accessible to those
with higher incomes. Most students now are low-income or parent-supported,
alternative types whose ecological footprint is already smaller that the
average Westerner and whose lifestyle allows them to do a 2-week course. I'd
like to see more high-impact middle-class consumers take Pc courses, and
have their higher tuition subsidize low-income people. Getting that group to
do Pc would have a huge environmental impact.

Toby
www.patternliteracy.com