Urban Permaculture Design Course

Dates for the 2015-16 course: Oct 17-18, Nov 7-8, Dec 5-6, Jan 16-17, Feb 13-14, March 12-13, April 9-10, May 14-15.

The permaculture design course is a must-do for anyone trying to answer the call for change in our work and our lives, the way we live and the way we relate with one another to better meet our local needs. More than just an approach to regenerative food production, permaculture design helps us to understand how many efforts unite to form a common cause, while allowing that cause to be specific to the individual as long as the effort supports other people, the planet and the fair sharing of the resources provided by each.

Led by Mark Lakeman (co-founder of the City Repair Project and Communitecture Design) and Matt Bibeau (co-founder of the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children and long-time City repair organizer), the course will include many of our bioregion’s top instructors of ecological design as guest instructors. The course will cover topics soil remediation, water harvesting, food systems and forest gardening, natural building techniques, urban ecology and foraging, plant propagation and grafting techniques, small scale energy systems, climate change resilience strategies, ecological patterning, community mapping, drawing and graphing techniques, collaborative design methods and more. Our course is not limited to the classroom and theoretical learning – we will be spending lots time outside and on the farm applying our knowledge, learning from hands-on techniques, and actively implementing systems that will have an immediate direct impact on the neighborhood and on the planet.

Our course will take place at the Planet Repair Institute as well as at Jeans Farm, two locations along the Springwater corridor in the Johnson Creek watershed of SE Portland. During each session, we explore a different ‘layer’ of the possibilities for neighborhood transformation and ‘block repair’. We consider simple no-cost or low-cost interventions and small scale intensive systems that any neighborhood could implement in order to help transition our urban spaces into thriving social ecologies. Blending the whole system design methods of permaculture with the urban reclamation techniques of block repair, we explore opportunities to reclaim the commons, activate underutilized spaces, integrate water management and energy systems, create vibrant perennial food systems, and localize our economic relations.

Course fees will average $800 per person, with higher or lower prices based on your economic ability and available spots (so your individual cost may be as low as $600 and as high as $1200). Email us at pdc@pdxpermaculture.com to determine your individual course cost. By RSVPing here and paying the $100 non-refundable deposit, your place in the course is secured.

Wholesome, mostly local and vegetarian lunch is included in the course fees (which is amazing!) The course will run from 9 to 4:30 on most days with an afternoon break for lunch.

For a glimpse at our course and our instructors, check out these videos produced by Dana Wilson from last year's PDC:

HEALING FORCES (https://vimeo.com/133786088)

RIGHT WHERE WE LIVE (https://vimeo.com/133806838)

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