Urban Permaculture Design Course Tampa Bay

This is our one-weekend-per-month six month Sustainable and Resilient Living course that is popular with professionals and working people. The course is focused on Florida-specific solutions and urban solutions for resilient living. By cooperating with nature and her energies, we are able to design human systems, from backyards to neighborhoods, farms or even cities to be more abundant, more long lasting, more ethical, healthier for all life in the system, and more enjoyable. It is a cutting edge approach to living that helps both people and the environment.

The course is designed to offer multiple opportunities including career mentoring and pathways, community building opportunities, resource networking, skill building, as well as what is for many, a life changing experience. The course is extended over six months to give students maximum time to absorb the information and put it into practice. This also allows people with busy schedules to take the course. There are volumes of material on permaculture on the internet. Our course offers focused and relevant written material, hands on practice, and interactive learning that will aid students to master key concepts. Materials are designed to guide students in continuing their education after the course, and we also offer apprenticeship opportunties. Instructors are veteran, professional designers and educators who have a wide range of on-the-ground design experience; this experience can help you shorten your learning curve, time, and expense significantly.

Instructors: Koreen Brennan, Eric Toensmeier (via Skype), Marie Nelson, and stay tuned for some more amazing teachers

We continue to refine and expand our curriculum based on feedback from dozens of students regarding what helps them learn best. We incorporate multiple learning styles including hands on, visual aids, immersion, lecture, interaction, and more. Our choice of materials, videos, expert speakers, field trips, focused hands on activities (that give you step by step useful skill sets), Florida-specific information, written materials, networking and career opportunities, and design tools are the result of this feedback. We live in this community and care about its future and we continue to work with graduates in the community to create something better, together.

Homes, work places, gardens, farms, ranches, communities, businesses, local economies, or cities that are designed with permaculture principles and techniques are more resilient; they use resources in a regenerative way, ensuring that we, our children and our grandchildren will have access to all the resources we need. By incorporating people care into the equation, this process becomes deeply enjoyable too.

This course attracts students from all over Florida and beyond. Carpooling is often available, and housing can usually be arranged (in a graduate's home in the area usually). Students meet others who think like they do, and often make life long friendships during the course; some find new career or lifestyle opportunities. Be the change you would like to see, and be effective at it, by designing that change!

Some of the subjects covered include:

Permaculture design ethics and principles
Creating abundance with natural patterns
Nutrient dense "beyond organic" gardening and farming
Grow more food with less work by working with nature
Edible landscaping, food in small spaces
Building rich, live soils
Designing sustainable water use
Greywater and rainwater catchment
Building food forests
Agroforestry and ecoagriculture, regenerative farming
Aquaculture
Composting and vermicomposting
Alternative pest management
Natural building, regenerative building technology
Reducing energy costs in your home
Best forms of sustainable energy
Appropriate technology
Boosting your career with permaculture
Sustainable economics
Increasing quality of life through “placemaking” design
Community revitalization and rebuilding
Successful intentional communities, ecovillages and cohousing, urban and rural. The course fee is $990 early bird extended through Aug 30, 2016 for Meetup members. This covers course materials, field trips, between class mentoring and all classes. Our courses are an investment in yourself and your future - you will make and save far more than the course costs, to the degree you use the information. A non refundable deposit of $300 will hold your spot.

To register for the course, pay via our PayPal button at www.growpermaculture.com. For questions or to register outside of PayPal, contact us at: 727-495-6145 or info at growpermaculture.com.

Here’s what our graduates say:

This course changed my life forever. It changed the way I look at everything, and gave me tools to address problems I thought had no solutions. It reinvigorated my connection to, respect for and love of the natural world and increased my understanding of it tremendously. It made me feel powerful and able to change things rather than helpless or apathetic. It gave me hope again, a renewed purpose for life and so many tools that I never dreamed existed! It brought back magic to my life, lightness, and fun! GH

I really enjoyed the whole PDC experience. I knew I would, but it was even better than I had thought. I loved the detailed theoretical classes in which I learned how to build soil, how to make it faster than it would happen naturally, how plants benefit each other. I also liked the hands on experiences a lot, it made many concepts so much clearer. I enjoyed the teacher’s methods, and the warmth of the teachers’ helpers. It was a learning experience in every single level not to mention a great opportunity to meet nice people and grow. Thanks!!! MM

I would highly recommend this course, taught by Koreen and her associates to anyone who has great concern for the future of this planet and the destructive path it is on. Permaculture is the solution we have all been waiting for. As permaculturists, “We are the ones we have been waiting for” to save ourselves from ourselves. Koreen is incredibly knowledgeable and has experienced many areas of the world first hand. If you have been feeling at a loss and discouraged this is your last chance to educate yourself as if the earth herself were revealing her deepest secrets on how you can help her. This is what permaculture is. Grow Permaculture far exceeded my expectations, even after years of experience working with organic gardening methods already. This is just the tip of the iceberg on how much is available for you to learn as you will find out. The depth of how very differently agriculture and water managment and land usage really need to be can’t be stressed enough. SK Thank you very much for this amazing course. The setting was ideal. The fact of being able to practice on real ground was invaluable. The presentation was very lively and instructive and really opened my eyes on how good design takes care of both the earth, the people and creates a surplus without waste. I love permaculture principles and how thoroughly and thoughful they are and how caring. JB I am Graduate of Grow Permaculture’s Permaculture Design Course. I am very impressed with the quality and professionalism that I experienced during the course. I learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It was a great balance of theory and practical training. I feel very prepared and confident going forward with the new knowledge I have. I have made some very big improvements in the way my company conducts business. Our business is all about tree preservation & creating a healthier planet. I acquired the knowledge and ability to create a “truly” regenerative company. I am very grateful for the expert knowledge, compassion and competence of my teacher & Mentor, Koreen. Thank you for creating a better planet one student at a time. NN

Who Takes This Permaculture Design Course?

Artists
Do it yourselfers
Educators – homeschool, teachers, professors
Gardeners
Green architects/builders
Green businesses
Green consultants
Homesteaders
Landscapers
Natural health practitioners
Non-profit/community organizers
People seeking a career change
People who care about the earth and each other
People who love healthy food
Permaculturists
Policy makers
Professionals (of many types)
Recent college graduates
Religious leaders
Students
Urban and rural farmers
Vegan, raw food, slow food, and/or local food
Yoga practitioners
Course dates Oct. 15-16
Nov 5-6
Dec 3-4
Jan 7-8
Feb 4-5
Mar 4-5