Mark has an interesting point below, but I suspect that few people have his breadth of knowledge, so a design or similar course might still be worthwhile for most people.
I am not making assumptions about Mark's knowledge or abilities, however the people I have met who considered themselves capable permaculture designers and who have not completed a course lacked some of the core understandings of the design system, such as concepts of integration of elements.
I do not know the situation in north America, but in Australia there have been a (too few) number of paid employment opportunities which asked for a design course certificate. A further benefit of the design course has been its ability to 'empower' course participants and enthuse them to take action in their own lives and homes or in the community.
Here, Permaculture International has taken the initiative to start development of a module-based design course to be accredited as vocational training with the nation's training authority. The course will be considerably longer and far more detailed and rigorous then the existing range of design courses on offer, but will not replace existing courses which will continue to be offered as community education-level uncertified training.
This is seen as a natural evolution of permaculture education in Australia for which there has been some demand for some years.
I find Mark's advice that a design course is unnecessary to validate the opinion of some in this country that there are substantial deficiencies in the present structure of design courses, deficiencies that some trainers have moved to remedy in their own course structure. The proposed accredited course will also remedy this for people requiring a vocational certificate in permaculture design.
Marks' comment that a design course is valuable to 'neophytes' is true. The course, even the very conventional course structure stipulated by the Permaculture Institute but largely ignored, provides newcomers with a broad but not particularly deep comprehension of the design system and leaves plenty of 'information holes' for them to fill in with further study.
Russ Grayson
Sydney, Australia
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