Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Join our 12th Course:

July 25 – August 10, 2014

[SOLD OUT]

Since 2005, we’ve been offering the full internationally-recognized Permaculture Design Certificate curriculum, preparing students to put their new design skills to work immediately.

Join this year’s class and immerse yourself in a discipline that is catching on across the globe as a practical, yet revolutionary way to create an abundant and sustainable life.

We train people of all backgrounds, ages, experience and skills to design using natural patterns based on ecological principles. Our graduates leave ready to get started in their yards, on their land, and in their homes and businesses.

This year’s teaching staff includes Michael Burns, Steve Gabriel, Karryn Olson-Ramanujan, and Rafter Sass Ferguson, plus guest presenters from the local permaculture community.

Begin with dinner on Friday, July 25th and end with your crew of graduates and new colleagues on Sunday morning August 10th, 2014.

In the beautiful, rural Cayuta Lake valley, our off-grid learning community explores designs topics such as soil regeneration, water conservation, building ponds and swales, managing woodlots, building natural and efficient homes, utilizing renewable energy, and of course, gardens. We will also examine social and economic paradigms, alternatives, and skills needed to build just and regenerative communities. We teach this content through presentations,  case studies, and hands-on exercises. Eighty-four hours of instruction is augmented by presentations from local experts, field trips, and games.

An integral feature of our course is a practicum led by experienced designers. Our teachers lead students through the same process they use for their land, clients, and communities. Our students acquire design skills as they go through the process over the length of the course, culminating with a final schematic design on an actual site.

Completion of the PDC course earns participants an internationally recognized design certificate.  The course is based on the traditional permaculture curriculum as described by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, while also including ideas and strategies relevant to our climate and culture in the northeast learned from regional permaculture practitioners.

Tuition includes prepared meals and camping.

Please pay your deposit and register to secure your place in the course. Class size is limited.

Additional information: 

Read more details about the course…

Watch a video interview with PDC alumni and teachers…

Earn a tuition discount through our work trade opportunity…

Experienced teachers + diverse students = quality learning experience…