Have any of you ever taken a Permaculture Design Certificate course? I have an opportunity to take one and was wondering if it would be a worthwhile experience. I have no real need for the credential and the price tag is somewhat steep, but I think it could be a worthwhile investment in building some new skills. More than anything, I'd like to meet other people IRL who are aware of overshoot issues (peak oil, loss of biodiversity, etc.) and interested in how to respond to them.
Thoughts?
Permaculture Design Courses
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
I took it my last semester of college and learned about several off-grid systems for sustainability. I talked with a number of people who were practicing sustainable living methods. Many lived almost entirely off grid; the permaculture course was one of the few ways to connect and learn from them.
Whether you should take it or not really depends on what you want to get out of it, and that depends on what people are involved in the course.
Whether you should take it or not really depends on what you want to get out of it, and that depends on what people are involved in the course.
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
My husband and I took a PDC in 2013 that included lots of hands on skills as part of the course. I was amazing. We learned so much and met a bunch of cool people who do cool things.
We took the course right before we started shopping for our current home. We knew we wanted to homestead and use premature design techniques in developing the property. What we didn't realize that the course more than paid for itself because it helped us figure out exactly what we needed when shopping for our new home. The course made us realize that we could do everything we wanted on a much smaller piece of land and we didn't need big barn either. The course taught us how to look at a piece of land along with the house. It also helped us really dial in on what we needed verses what we wanted.
This is the course we took. http://www.wholesystemsdesign.com/perma ... gn-course/
We took the course right before we started shopping for our current home. We knew we wanted to homestead and use premature design techniques in developing the property. What we didn't realize that the course more than paid for itself because it helped us figure out exactly what we needed when shopping for our new home. The course made us realize that we could do everything we wanted on a much smaller piece of land and we didn't need big barn either. The course taught us how to look at a piece of land along with the house. It also helped us really dial in on what we needed verses what we wanted.
This is the course we took. http://www.wholesystemsdesign.com/perma ... gn-course/
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
I've signed up the this course at Oregon State University:
Learn Permaculture Design Online for Free
http://open.oregonstate.edu/courses/permaculture/
Learn Permaculture Design Online for Free
http://open.oregonstate.edu/courses/permaculture/
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
I met some great people and had fun at my PDC, but I thought that the cost was way too high, even at a reduced rate.
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
It is expensive and I would look into the specific course you are looking to take. Some of them are just the PDC design overview and others like the one I took also included lots of hands on work shops and ran for 10 days.
They covered lots of different skills you would be likely to use implementing a design along with the design principles.
I knew I wanted to have a homestead, produce a large percentage of the food we eat, continue to garden as my mobility declined, and find ways to do that affordably. We where also about to start shopping for a home to settle down in and hopefully stay in for decades. Those were my and my husband's goals and the PDC was a really good fit for us. We found very well respected PC 2 hours from our home where the instructors were familiar with our climate and growing conditions. It worked for us as an amazing anniversary vacation but I wouldn't recommend one taking one unless you understand what you need out of it and find a PDC that will fill those needs.
They covered lots of different skills you would be likely to use implementing a design along with the design principles.
I knew I wanted to have a homestead, produce a large percentage of the food we eat, continue to garden as my mobility declined, and find ways to do that affordably. We where also about to start shopping for a home to settle down in and hopefully stay in for decades. Those were my and my husband's goals and the PDC was a really good fit for us. We found very well respected PC 2 hours from our home where the instructors were familiar with our climate and growing conditions. It worked for us as an amazing anniversary vacation but I wouldn't recommend one taking one unless you understand what you need out of it and find a PDC that will fill those needs.
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
This was on my ToDo list for a number of years, and now it isn't. I have done a couple online courses, hacked away at my own projects, and read many books, so now it doesn't seem like it would be worth the expense. Also, I have become more interested in broader topics of systems theory, complexity, ecology and history of agriculture/food.
Re: Permaculture Design Courses
@EMJ, I will join you.