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what is a permaculture design course (PDC) | (Read 1185 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 5600
missoula, montana
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April 28, 2010, 11:36:03 AM |
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Maybe somebody more knowledgeable than I can answer this.
My impression is that somewhere there is official content that is covered at every PDC (permaculture design course).
It seems that the old norm was a 14 day intensive course.
Now I see a lot of PDC's where it is one weekend a month for seven months.
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Toby Hemenway
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Posts: 46
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April 28, 2010, 02:26:20 PM |
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Originally, Mollison prepared a handbook that covered what was supposed to be included in a PDC. a copy is at
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/images/uploads/PDC_cert_book_.pdf
Later he said that "Permaculture: A Designers' Manual" superseded this and constituted the curriculum; that a course was supposed to cover all chapter headings of the book. To my knowledge, Bill never wrote an easily understood list of what topics were to be covered, but the first couple of generations of teachers all covered the same topics that he did.
Bill's first PDCs were 3 weeks long, but so few people could afford 3 weeks that he shortened it to two. The course is supposed to be a minimum of 72 hours instruction, but all the good ones are 90+ hours or more. I've dropped in on a couple of 10-day courses, offered one once under pressure from a venue, and have met students who have taken them (you can cram 72 hours into 10 days, in theory) and they were not good courses and produced students who lacked a good understanding. Don't take one; don't offer one. So 12-14 days seems the minimum.
There are many formats: 2-week residential, two 1-week courses, one day a month for a year, and 6 or 7 weekends. The 2-week residential is superb for building a temporary community and is a full immersion that people treasure for the rest of their lives, but I've come to prefer the 6-weekend format because it can be given to the residents of a city or region so that they all get to know each other, and a permaculture community that is permanent results that can have a deep influence on a city or area. And the time between classes allows for extra study, socializing, and lets the material really sink in.
I have an FAQ on the course at
http://www.patternliteracy.com/designcoursefaq.html
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bruc33ef
Posts: 175
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May 24, 2010, 02:06:36 PM |
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On the Tagari site, I see they're now selling the complete PDC lectures on 13 DVDs, given by Mollison and Geoff Lawton. It costs about 380 AUD (~$315) plus shipping.
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Emerson White
Posts: 489
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May 24, 2010, 10:50:52 PM |
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What do you call yourself when you have a certificate? A Certified Permaculture designer?
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Nature will always move towards a balance, unfortunately part of that process is that high concentration of vegetables in your garden going to pests and disease striking one or more trees in your perfectly balanced stand of trees.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 5600
missoula, montana
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May 24, 2010, 10:59:36 PM |
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What do you call yourself when you have a certificate? A Certified Permaculture designer?
I do. Although there are some folks that get their knickers in a twist over that.
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Burra Maluca
Posts: 67
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May 25, 2010, 02:31:44 PM |
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I understand that the Permaculture Institute is no longer keeping a teacher register and will no longer be issuing Permaculture Design Certificates, leaving individual teachers to issue their own certificates. I wonder what will happen to the syllabus now? Will it be up to each teacher to decide what to teach and how much study is required?
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 articles by paul wheaton: [diatomaceous earth] [raising chickens] [lawn care] [Sepp Holzer] [cast iron] [flea control]
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