permaculture

["L. Santoyo" <santoyo@earthflow.com>]

On Jan 9, 2008 3:24 PM, Krystle Chung <learning@selfmadefarmer.com> wrote:
In general, what should I be looking for in design course? What makes some
courses more valuable, useful, or applicable than others, if anything?

Hello Krystle, good questions....

All Permaculture Design Certificate courses should cover the same 72 hour
curriculum as designated by the content of the Permaculture Designers
Manual, and should include team design projects as part of the coursework.
Ask to see a copy of the course outline to confirm this.

Of course, programs can include, in addition to that curriculum, other
topics of interest- but you'll want to make sure that the curriculum
includes the application of the principles of Permaculture to the design of
systems beyond those of home and garden... specifically, community and
economics.

The format in which a course is taught will flavor the learning experience:

The traditional 2 week residential course is an intensive dose of living and
learning with others. In this type of course, I cannot emphasize enough the
importance of the hosts and the host-site to the course experience. Your
ability to absorb the curriculum will be influenced by the conditions of the
site, and the warmth and hospitality of the hosts... Know what to expect!

The increasingly popular format of the weekend series course, held over a
period of months, tends to allow for a deeper experience of learning in the
team design projects. It also seems to better accommodate people with
families, and working professionals, who are better able to integrate this
weekend format into their busy schedules. Because participants in the
weekend classes usually all live near the class site, this type of format
also helps to create new, long-lasting connections within the community as
well.

Once you've figured out what format you want your first design course
experience to be (and yes, I hope you will end up taking more than one- as
only through comparison of different teachers and teaching styles will you
be better able to appreciate and absorb what each has to offer!), ask
yourself, what in a teacher or teaching team is important to you... gender,
age, experience?

As our friends and associates, we can also highly recommend Scott and Arina
Pittman, as well as the Bullock Brothers. In addition, I invite you to check
out our programs  http://earthflow.com  and see our other "Best
Recommendations" on our website at: http://earthflow.com/volunteering.php

Happy Hunting,

Kathryn

Kathryn Santoyo, Mistress of Administration
EarthFlow Design Works
earthflow.com