The slip of paper I got says "This certifies that ______ has
successfully completed a permaculture consultant's design course."
Personally I don't think completing the course certifies me for
anything other than applying permaculture principles to my own life
(and I'd be doing that certified or not), though I will talk about
permaculture with anyone I come across who cares to listen. Maybe
they'll be interested enough to buy me a beer, which I suppose is a
violation of the exhortation not to 'hang out a shingle' in an
extreme interpretation... or likewise I may have to buy them a beer
to keep them listening...
Toby wrote:
"So there's no error in the name or structure of the course, but
there is
one in the minds of people who believe that it certifies them as a
designer."
I'd argue that if there is a substantial number of people who have
this misconception (and it seems there is) the source of the
misconception is not entirely in their minds. If they are shelling
out money and signing up for a PDC with this misconception there is
something in the name or the course description that is unclear
enough to invite the misconception.
Toby wrote:
"BTW, I can think of lots of less-than-72 hour courses that result in
certification: equipment operators, inspectors of various kinds, master
gardeners, restricted chemical appliers, etc."
I think we'd agree that these examples are not comparable to
permaculture design- perhaps with the exception of master gardener,
they are are certifications for a single, specific sill, and once
certified one can basically go out and get a paying job applying that
skill. The issue here is that, no, you shouldn't go out and start
collecting money applying your new 'certified' permaculture design
skills. Permaculture design is more along the lines of architecture,
or ID, or urban planning, or even social science, and there is no 72-
hour certification in those fields. Of course permaculture IS
different than architecture or ID or urban planning, so I'm not
suggesting the learning and certification process should be modeled
on the processes used in those fields.
I'm not just being argumentative- from things I've heard and read it
seems like there is a possibly growing problem here. To dismiss the
problem as a misconception on the part of some people doesn't seem to
address it, and as Adam suggested, with permaculture potentially on
the verge of going 'mainstream,' now is the time to think and act on
it. There is an existing permaculture structure that could be useful
here- the system of zones. Perhaps the existing PDC course could be
called a Zone 0 PDC course, designating it as an intensive
introduction for the individual. Not a radical renaming- a refining
or clarifying. Further levels of certification denoting training and
experience in broader ranges and elements of design could go on up to
zone 5 certification.