Subject: Permaculture Education: PRINCIPLES LEADS AND OPTIONS

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 10:44:37 EDT

To: Dena Ned, M.S.W.
Humboldt State University
INRSEP Program
707-826-4994
[email-masked]

Greetings:
    Your letter on behalf of your student seedking permaculture guidance has 
been forward to various permaculturists and to a permaculture discussion 
group on the internet.   This reply will provide three parts:  1)  A short 
discussion of permaculture education, 2)  Leads for permaculture groups in 
CA, and 3) a brief description of options we provide.  I am in California 
until the end of this week and if you and/or your student wants to meet me in 
San Francisco for an hour or so before Saturday, email me and we can arrange 
a time.  I check my email first thing in the morning, usually.

Principles
    There is no reason why a college degree should be required to practice 
permaculture.  I have former students without degrees who are now respected 
practicing members of the Eastern Permaculture Teachers Association (EPTA), 
for example.   My own degree is in Film Production, which is admittedly 
useful in preparing my slide presentations, but otherwise not a probable 
field of study for an advanced permaculturist.  Since permaculture is 
wholistic, all knowledge, experiense, insight, skill and proclivities can be 
relevant.
    The minimum level of certificate-level training in permaculture is a 
two-week program.  Most certificate courses are given at the minimum level.  
There is little demand for longer programs--I refuse to give a certificate 
with less than three weeks training and I consequently haven't given the 
certificate course in years. (I do give an online course every year--more 
below on that.)
    There are many certificate courses given in the USA.  We have also 
designed a non-certificate program, our 10-day design intensive, which is 
very useful for beginners.   I just completed one in NE California.  This is 
not a substitute to the certificate course but a compliment, providing much 
more solid experience in the design process itself, and most suitable for 
someone intending either to take a certificate course or to build on one.  
    Following certification, it is best for a serious student of permaculture 
to make some sort of arrangement with an advanced practitioner.   This can be 
collaboration on design projects, a structured program as our APT (Advanced 
Permaculture Training) program (email me for details), or some other form of 
apprenticeship.  I have some interest in finding people interested in being 
part of a Permaculture Corps that will work in countries such as Kenya or 
Paraguay with which we have collaborating programs and provide both direct 
permaculture support and liason work with us (Elfin Permaculture). 
    Mollison has proposed that one needs to produce 10 professional-quality 
designs to qualify as a fully professional permaculturist and receive 
advanced diplomas (which are specialized in varioius areas).  This qualifies 
one to design and or teach independently.  Alas, for the most part, this 
system is ignored but it is available to the truely serious.
    Internships with permaculturists are also available but frankly this can 
be unsatisfactory to one who has a serious interest.  The minimum training of 
the certificate course is really necessary for someone to participate at all 
in design work.  So often the intern gets experience in implementation and 
maintenance, which, while a valuable foundation that should be required, does 
very little to educate one in permaculture DESIGN.  Internships that combine 
training opportunities with conventional intern tasks are therefore the best. 
 
    In addition to providing courses in various fixed venues, some of us also 
specialize in giving courses and workshops hosted by other individuals or 
organizations (such as your college).  For a full design course, I suggest 
the summer intercession.  It is very well to allow about double the elapsed 
time required for the usual certificate course because, in my experience, 
college students are less inclined to work intensively than most other groups 
we encounter.   Because I now have family in N. California, you can count me 
as among the advanced teachers interested in such arrangements.  

Our database TRIP (The Resources of International Permacualture) contains the 
following California groups relevant to your question.

Group:  Permaculture Institute of Southern California - PISC    Category:   
PC  c/o:        Publication:        Address:    1027 Summit Way ISSN:       
ISBN:       Town: Laguna Beach    State/prov: CA  Post code:  92561   
Country:    USA Last Verified:  06/16/99    Comments:   "We have a 
demonstration farm in Aguanga, California,  Laganza Farm a biodynamic and 
certified organic, 20 acre apple orchard and vegetable production CSA. Our 
demonstration sites in Tijuana, Mexico, Esperenza School, Aldeas Infantile 
orphanage and Ecoparque (wastewater treatment) are examples of fieldsites 
that students can be placed."   Phone:  714 494-1443' 949-494-5843  Fax:    
714 497-9322    Email:  DrRoley,    Internet:       Keywords:   Permaculture. 
Workshops.

Group:  Permaculture Institute of Northern California – PINC    Category:   
PG  c/o:    Penny Livingston, Director  Publication:        Address:    POB 
341 ISSN:       ISBN:       Town:   Point Reys Sta. State/prov: CA  Post 
code:   94956   Country:    USA Date verified:  07/14/99    Comments:   "... 
providing courses and workshops that enable people to develop the skills 
necessary to live a more sustainable life on the planet." Phone:  415 
663-9090    Fax:    415 663-9090    Email:  [email-masked],   Internet:   
http://promo.nbn.com.people/pinc, www.permacultureinstitute.com Keywords:   
Permaculture. Workshops. Shelter.  Composting Toilets.

Group:  Mendocino Permaculture Association  Category:   PG  c/o:        
Publication:        Address:    POB 74  ISSN:       ISBN:       Town:   
Boonville   State/prov: CA  Post code:  95415   Country:    USA Date 
verified:   06/16/99    Comments:       Phone:      Fax:        Email:      
Internet:       Keywords:   

Group:  Permaculture Santa Cruz Category:   PG  c/o:        Publication:        
Address:    400 Vaca del Sol    ISSN:       ISBN:       Town: Corralitos  
State/prov: CA  Post code:  95076   Country:    USA Last Verified:  06/16/99    
Comments:       Phone:  408 763-3848    Fax:        Email:      Internet:       
Keywords:   Permaculture.

I am especially impressed with the reports of the work by Bill Roley at the 
Permaculture Institute of Southern California.  His email is in the group 
listing.

If you want a wider data base than just california, email me priavately about 
acquiring TRIP (The Resources of International Permaculture).  There is 
another, somewhat different list published by Permaculture International 
Journal in Australia.

Our Programs
    The most immediate way in which we might help is through our annual 
Online Permaculture Design Course.  This runs 5-6 months and goes into much 
more depth than is possible in a few weeks.   We are starting the fourth such 
course at the end of October (the 24th) and we are very happy with it, 
meaning the quality of design work that we get from our students.   The 
absolutely ideal way to use this course is in combination with our 10-day 
design intensive or with an intern at our Barking Frogs Permaculture Center.  
There is no charge for interns who may take the course to the extent that it 
overlaps the duration of their internships.

As suggested above, we will also go anywhere (and have) to lead a certificate 
program or design intensive organized and administered by others.  Our 
certificate program is very intensive and involves in the order of 150 hours 
of work in three weeks.  (Students do get Sundays off.)  I'd like four or 
five weeks in a conventional college setting.   Generally we offer the 10-day 
intensive as a two week program in colleges (with full weekends off) or in 
consecutive translation, not relevant here.  We usually have a limit of two 
permaculture trips a year to give me time to work on our new center, however 
N. California is of particular intrest because I can check in on my 
daughter's family there, including my grandaughter, now six months old.  It 
would be pleasant to have a closer view of her development (not to mention 
the great grandchild-to-grandpaw cuddles.)  This pertains to something we 
call Zone 1 in permaculture.

Rather than try to reconstruct all our programs, I'll paste our basic flyer 
copy to the end of this email.

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since 
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses, 
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and annual correspondence 
courses via email.  Copyright, 1998, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway, P.O. Box 52, 
Sparr FL 32192 USA  Internships. [email-masked]  

We don't have time to rush.

A list by topic of all Yankee Permaculture titles may be found at 
http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ypc_catalog.html
Elfin Permaculture programs are listed at the Eastern Permaculture Teachers 
assn home page: http://home.ptd.net/~artrod/epta/eptahmp.html
-------------

*Solutions Through  Permaculture Design
Permaculture design brings our lives back into participation with the Earth. 
Permaculturists and other environmentalists warn of global destruction unless 
we learn to live with the Earth rather than continuing to prey upon her. 
Permaculture trusts that the Earth shows us solutions to halt the destruction 
of the biosphere while sustaining ourselves in wholesome and fulfilling ways. 
We offer the following services, programs and tools as part of these 
permaculture solutions: 

• Elfin Permaculture: lectures, workshops, live and correspondence courses, 
certificate courses by email, advanced training, consulting and permaculture 
design. Most programs are hosted by individuals or groups who invite us to 
their region.   

• Yankee Permaculture: Publishes The International Permaculture Solutions 
Journal, PROD  (Permaculture Review, Overview and Digest), The Resources of 
International Permaculture  (International Directory), The Permaculture 
Design Course Pamphlet Series, about 35 Permaculture Papers & reprints, 
scores of unique documents available on special order, and slide/script shows 
from the Elfin Permaculture Design Course.   Yankee Permaculture also 
distributes key books and pamphlets relevant to Permaculture, especially 
those difficult to obtain elsewhere. Elfin Permaculture helps collabortive 
permaculture projects in Kenya, South Africa and Paraguay.

• Solutions Network: Work on many of the projects described here is done by 
volunteers worldwide. We are evolving a way to work together to reduce 
hierarchy and integrate our efforts in a lateral system.   

• Barking Frogs Permaculture Center:  We recently purchased land and 
buildings for our permaculture outreach, education, research and resource 
center.  Internships and advance training are available here.  One of our 
main projects is the adaptation of chinampas gardening methods.

PERMACULTURE DESIGN

    Permaculture design integrates people into Nature's design for the 
bioregion as a whole so that it is respected, enhanced and strengthened. 
People receive shelter, energy, food, water, income, community and aesthetic 
as well as spiritual fulfillment as part of the permaculture design, all 
within a balanced biological community. Permaculture design students learn to 
make practical recommendations to develop the natural potential of a site. 
They also learn to identify the source and availability of every resource 
required to implement the permaculture design. A time table for orchestrating 
the unfolding of the design and using each stage of implementation to prepare 
for the next helps to assure practical and efficient results. Thus the design 
integrates the goals of the Earth and the people in that place. 
Workshops, Courses And Other Training
    Elfin Permaculture offers a variety of formats as learning experiences in 
permaculture. Workshops include weekends in which participants begin a 
permaculture design and intensive 10-day and two-week programs where the 
group develops a first draft permaculture design for the site at hand.   The 
three-week Permaculture Design Course includes more than 100 hours of 
instruction and field work and a very intensive group design project. We 
certify graduates of the courses as Permaculture Trainees. Further training 
is available through Elfin Permaculture's Advanced Permaculture Training 
(APT) individualized program in which the student uses permaculture 
principles to design his/her educational experience. Elfin Permaculture 
offers a Permaculture Design Correspondence Course online for individuals or 
groups unable to attend a live course. You can get more information by 
requesting an information sheet, using the form on this flyer.  

Permaculture Consulting
    We provide consulting services and full permaculture designs for people 
interested in developing their homes and lifestyles for sustainable 
self-reliance.

DAN HEMENWAY, founder of Elfin Permaculture, is recognized among the most 
innovative and effective teachers of permaculture. Since 1981, he has taught 
workshops, design courses and advanced programs from Mexico to Canada and in 
Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, and now offers an internet Permaculture Design 
Course.  Dan is also founder, editor and publisher of The International 
Permaculture Solutions Journal,  highly regarded among permaculturists and 
PROD (Permaculture Review Overview and Digest ). He is program director of 
APT (Advanced Permaculture Training) and active in related movements such as 
remineralization. He contributes to the development of permaculture with 
ongoing work on principles of transformation.  Dan holds five diplomas in 
various aspects of permaculture from the International Permaculture 
Institute. He received the annual Conservation Award from Friends of Nature 
in 1983 and the Community Service Award from the International Permaculture 
Institute in 1984. In 1991, he was named as a delegate to "Roots of the 
Future," a conference of NGOs in Paris, France, to prepare input to the UN 
"Earth Summit" held in June, 1992. More recently, Dan was cited in 
Swathmore's Who’s Who in America for 1996-97.

CYNTHIA BAXTER HEMENWAY, CNM, is partner in Elfin Permaculture and Associate 
Editor of The International Permaculture Solutions Journal. A founding member 
and former director and officer of the Planetary Project Foundation (Kansas, 
USA), Cynthia teaches Women's Health at the University of Florida, 
Gainesville. She is a Certified Nurse Midwife and wholistic health 
practitioner with particular emphasis in working with women during the 
childbearing year. She brings experience in leading workshops on health and 
spiritual matters to permaculture as well as the intention to expand the 
practice of permaculture in these areas. Because of the demands of her other 
work, Cynthia is available to co-lead workshops on an occasional basis. 

Interns, Apprentices and Volunteers
    There is a lot of valuable experience to be gained by working with us on 
our on-site and/or worldwide efforts.  Write or email us for details.

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