From: Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson <lakinroe@silcom.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [permaculture] Permaculture Design Course with Geoff Lawton, Nadia Lawton AND Darren Doherty May 2007
Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:58:58 -0700
Spring 2007 Permaculture Design Certificate
Course with Geoff Lawton, Nadia Abu Yahia Lawton AND Darren Doherty
at Quail Springs Permaculture Farm and Learning
Oasis (dry land agricultural setting)
DATES: May 14-27th, 2007
LOCATION: Upper Cuyama Valley in the
Southern/Central California Mountains,
approximately 2 hour drive from LA, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.
COST: $1350 for full payment received by
January 31, 2007, and $1450 for payment after
February 1, 2007. *a $400 deposit upon
registering to hold your space, with balance paid
in full one week prior to course (May 7th)
(camping and meals included) payment plans are offered
To register or for more info, contact: Kolmi
Majumdar, Quail Springs, (805) 886-7239,
<mailto:info@quailsprings.org>info@quailsprings.org
P.O. Box 417, New Cuyama, California 95254
All the worlds problems can be solved in the garden.
What is Permaculture?
Permaculture is a holistic approach to land use
design, based on ecological principles and
patterns. It aims to create stable, productive
systems that provide for human needs,
harmoniously integrating the land with people.
Permaculture principles can be applied to any
environment, at any scale - from dense urban
settlements to individual homes, from farms to entire regions.
This world-recognized, 72-hour course provides an
introduction to Permaculture as set forth by
movement founder Bill Mollison. Students are
invited to bring details of their own sites or
potential sites and explore site-specific
Permaculture solutions. The course serves as the
foundation for further study and is a
prerequisite for a Diploma in Permaculture
Design, awarded by the Permaculture Research
Institute. To date, hundreds of Permaculture
designers worldwide have been certified through
the course, creating a global network of
ecological activists influencing major
corporations and creating new soft-energy
business alternatives. The course covers
sustainable living systems for a wide variety of
landscapes and climates, with special emphasis on arid zones.
Course Content
The course includes the application of
Permaculture principles to food production, home
design, construction, energy conservation and
generation, and explores alternative economic
structures and legal strategies supporting
Permaculture solutions. Specific topics include:
· Theory and principles of Permaculture
· Nature-friendly house placement and design
· Energy conservation techniques for cold climates
· Recycling and waste management
· Soil rehabilitation
· Organic food production
· Water harvesting and management, including earthworks
· Ecological pest control
· Drought-proofing
· Soil rehabilitation and erosion control
· Animal husbandry
· Aquaculture
· Catastrophe preparedness and prevention
· Windbreaks and fire control
· Aspects of eco-village design
· Community
· Invisible structures
About the Instructors
Geoff Lawton is the Director of the Permaculture
Research Institute in Australia, assuming the
position from Permaculture founder Bill Mollison.
Lawton has worked for clients that include
communities, governments, aid organizations,
non-government organizations and multi-national
companies. Lawton has served clients in 17
different countries, including Jordan, Iraq,
Egypt, USA, Mexico, Macedonia, Vietnam, Costa
Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, England, Denmark,
Australia and the South Pacific. A recent project
in Jordan is documented on a video called
Greening the Desert available for viewing on his
website (<www.permaculture.org.htm>www.permaculture.org.au).
Nadia Abu Yahia (Lawton) was born in the Dead Sea
Valley in Jordan. She learned traditional ways of
land use from her father, an expert farmer and
herbal healer of Palestinian, Bedouin descent.
She later went on to complete her Permaculture
diploma in design, education and site development
and has recently become a registered Permaculture teacher.
Darren Doherty has been a full-time Permaculture
Designer since 1993 (at age 24) and focused the
first half of his career on design and
development work, to the point where he became
the most prolific Permaculture Designer in
Australia, designing and developing over 1100
properties in that period, with a large
development and management team backing his
design efforts. With the births of his two
younger children, by 2002 he tailed off his
emphasis in that regard and is now working on
selected "special projects" and teaching about 5
PDC's per year. He spends about 40% of his
working time these days in Viet Nam or managing
his Viet Nam projects (Permaculture development
and education projects for M&M's/Mars Inc. &
ACDIVOCA) with the remaining time spent managing
a 60ha working research & demonstration farm in
Southern Victoria, Australia plus a smattering of
broadacre design jobs here and there. David
Holmgren and he co-teach one Permaculture Design
Course a year here in his home town of Bendigo, Central Victoria.
About the Farm
Quail Springs is a land-based project of True
Nature, a non profit organization, dedicated to
the learning and sharing of essential living
skills which support personal, community, and
ecological health and balance. We accomplish our
mission through the offerings of family camps and
life skills workshops, vocational and mentoring
programs for teens, and internships and service
learning at our Permaculture designed farm
setting and learning oasis in the Cuyama Valley
of California where life-long learning is
nurtured in an atmosphere of community support.
This is a 450 acre farm at 3900 feet (approx.
1100m) elevation and we are shaping the land and
our lives towards a model of self-sufficiency.
This property is in its third year of development
with community-built structures, a spring-fed
gravity flow water system, a dam, swales, food
gardens, tree plantings, food forest, animal
systems, and a great community spirit.
What to expect
Learn and live Permaculture design and
development while camping onsite. In addition to
primitive camping facilities and compost toilets,
participants should also be prepared for some cold evenings and mornings.
This 72-hour certificate program is a 13-day,
residential design course with a one-day break in
the middle and a celebration at the end.
Quote about the course
I thought I was coming to learn about gardens,
and instead I learned about life, and the
importance of community and interdependence.
Caretaker
Quail Springs
Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm
<mailto:info@quailsprings.org>info@quailsprings.org
805-886-7239
[permaculture] Permaculture Design Course with Geoff Lawton, Nadia Lawton AND Darren Doherty May 2007,
Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson, 04/02/2007