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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] official certification
  • Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:42:03 -0400

On 10/23/2010 3:42 PM, paul wheaton wrote:
Toby,

Suppose you reach 30% of the PDC graduates and they trust you and do
as you ask: they stop calling themselves "certified permaculture
designers". Then, all of the people that have not heard about this or
people that don't wanna make this change continue to call themselves
"certified permaculture designers".

They should not do this, that is if they take themselves seriously as CPD's and the CPD educational system and certification seriously. If they don't want to do this then they, in the log run, part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution.

Then when people are looking for a designer, they look at the
different web pages or business cards or whatever and see that some
people are certified and some are not. And, these people, not know

Its like:
Certified Financial Planner
Certified Landscape Planner (next door to architect) whereas Landscape Designer can be anyone; likewise Permaculture Designer can be anyone.
On the other hand, Certified Permaculture Designer (add Site Planner
to move it closer to the world of landscape architecture) should only be one who had 1) taken the required coursework 2) has completed a minimum of two years field work.

what all is behind certification, decide to pick only from those that
are certified.

That should mean something and remove all doubt.
As always, business should be local at first and there should be a one on one relationship
between customer and designer. "Get to know your local Permaculture Designer" should be said in the same breath as "Get to know your local Farmer (especially market farmers and orchardists). You will always have the option to hire one who is certified if that is what you require, and that certification should mean something.

Therefore, people that trust you and follow you on this one get
screwed. People that are out of the loop on this (and probably many
other permaculture things) get rewarded.

I would like to suggest that you embrace the state that things are in
- allow everybody that has completed a PDC to be a CPD and then come
up with some new terminology for the more advanced layers.

I do not agree with that at all. Read above again. Go local, get to know your PD's (certified or non certified), hire one and move forward,
get the job done. People who have taken PDC's who are serious about becoming a professional in the field should have the grace to admit
that they have only a 2 week course and limited field experience,
but they are talented, skilled, informed, knowledgeable, conscientious,
responsible and want to do the best job they can for you, within the limits of their training and experience. See it as hanging out your shingle as an apprentice. I am sure in this day and time they will have many customers, just as self-taught landscape designers/contractors have been doing for years (that described me for 16 years). They should be able to count their job experience as work toward the field work requirement to be awarded a PD Certificate. They can complete their coursework while being self-employed.

"everybody that has completed a PDC to be a CPD"
should instead be "everybody that has completed a PDC to be a PD or Non-Certified PD". That's the way it works everywhere else in the business world and being a PD for hire is being in business.

To me, this is the heart of the matter and where things will often lead
much of the time:

The Permaculture Movement should move forward on all fronts, including
being part of the global mainstream business world, for profit and not for profit. Inevitably, permaculture professionals will be requested to perform services for civil agencies and organizations, from municipal to federal, from non-profit corporations to for profit ones, large and small and for small and large local and regional volunteer organizations as well as contributing services to one's own community or neighborhood. It goes without saying that to work with 90% of the entities in this list will necessitate that the professional have some sort of accreditation or certification from a recognized body or organization or qualified individual.
If US AID, for example, plans to hire a permaculture professional to perform services for them in some foreign country they want to know that they money is wisely spent and that the job will be done correctly, whether it is a one-off or part of a planned project to be replicated. They will want that professional to have a resume that will include enough coursework and field work to satisfy them that they are able to do the work requested and their money is not wasted. If its a
minimally funded project and they have only one opportunity to get the job done right, all the more reason to pick someone with credentials.

...:LL




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