permaculture

["Robert Waldrop" <bwaldrop@cox.net>]

The protocol for the Barking Frogs online 
Permaculture Design Course, which is included in 
the preregistration packet linked on this page 
http://www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org/onlinepdc.htm , 
and is taught by Dan Hemenway (very distant 
relation of Toby I think), says that if you take 
the course for "certification", at the end you are 
certified as an "entry-level permaculturist". 
After 2 years of study and work, I am about to 
submit the permaculture design report for my urban 
property here in Oklahoma City (which is my design 
practicum), and if as a result I am certified, I 
am really clear in my own mind that I am an 
"apprentice" with much more to learn.

Bob Waldrop, tadpole in training
Oklahoma City

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Toby Hemenway" <toby@patternliteracy.com>
> A note about the use of terms. Taking a 72-hour 
> design course does not
> make you a "certified permaculture designer." 
> The original certificates
> from Mollison say, in some cases, that the 
> holder "has successfully
> completed a permaculture design course" and 
> other certificates from him
> say "is a permaculture design trainee." Somehow 
> in later iterations by
> other teachers, usually a few generations 
> removed from Bill, people got
> the idea that a PDC made you a professional, 
> certified designer.
> Seventy-two hours is the equivalent of two 
> college classes but with no
> homework, which is not enough to make anyone a 
> designer. Bill has been
> very firm about this, and most of the old-school 
> teachers feel the same
> way. I believe it's generally thought that 
> getting a diploma from the
> Permaculture Institute after two years of study 
> under a mentor is what
> is required to call yourself a certified 
> designer (right, Scott or Robyn
> or any of you long-time Pc teachers?). It's 
> unfortunate that this
> "resume bloat" has led to so many people 
> thinking the PDC makes them a
> certified designer, instead of a design trainee.
>
> I'd be happy to hear anyone's thoughts, pro or 
> con, about this.
>
> Toby
> http://patternliteracy.com