Permaculture Design CourseCOURSE OUTLINE — 12 MODULESThe first two modules, about the basis of permaculture, its ethics, approach and principles, will cover: 1) Philosophy & Design: Welcome and introductions; ethics & principles; general applications of permaculture; concepts of sustainability; ecological design; methods & processes of design (information collection, analysis and drawing up). 2) Landscape & Site Assessment: Natural patterns and reading the landscape; techniques of observation; measuring and recording land form; sectors & aspect; gathering information of natural conditions and cultural features and requirements. The content of the other ten modules will generally include the following: 3) Soils & Gardening: Nature of soils and soil structure; soil testing (visual assessments & plant indications); soil/plant/animal relationships (nutrient cycles, mixing of air & water); composting; re-vitalisation aids (seaweed, rock dusts, EM, biodynamics etc). Garden layout & design (sun, shelter, access, companion planting, rotation, green manures); garden preparation (digging, mulching, humus build-up); garden types& relationships; plant health & diseases/pests/predators; weed management; seed saving. 4) Water & Water harvesting: Nature and importance of water; catchments & hydrological cycle; purification & treatment (water quality, pollution & re-vitalisation); storage (naturally and in reservoirs); harvesting; uses, multiple use, re-use and conservation; aquaculture (wild harvesting and domestication). 5) Air & Climate: Nature of the atmosphere (air, life and climate); types of climates, circulation patterns and changing climates; weather (rain, snow & ice, frost, droughts) & micro-climates; air quality, pollution & re-vitalisation; shelter & shade (design & species). 6) Energy & Technology: Nature and types of energy; sources of energy; energy analysis (efficiency, life-cycle energy); approach of science & technology and industrialisation; appropriate technology and 4Rs - reduce, repair, re-use & recycle; transport and energy alternatives. 7) Orchards, Row Crops & Small Animals (Zones 1 - 3): Selecting trees/vines/berries/crops etc for climate and site; layout for needs, guilds, diversity and in relation to facilities; planting & propagation; management for productivity and plant health, and integration with small animals (bees, poultry, pigs); ecology of plants and animals; management and care of small animals. 8) Large Animals & Forestry (Zones 3 - 5): Animal grazing and soil fertility; grazing management and animal care (water, stock movement, shelter, shade and health); structures (fencing, yards etc); forest diversity and habitats, forest effects and services; forest re-generation and forest types; forest layout and uses, firewood coppicing; plantation management (pruning, thinning etc); species for firewood, timber, amenity, habitat etc. 9) Hazards & Catastrophes: Dynamics of natural processes and large events; opportunity and vitality from sudden change; recognising hazards & learning to cope with disasters (physical - droughts, floods, earthquakes; biological - pest infestation, ecological disruption; social - crime, war & revolution; economic - job loss, financial collapse); information about hazards; preparedness for hazards (4Rs - reduction, readiness, response & recovery); practical tools in an emergency. 10) Built Environment: Principles of building biology and ecology; orientation & layout for site and surroundings; building design (warmth & ambience, insulation, passive and active systems, storage & heat pumps, sound, light and electro-magnetism); building materials & construction (local earth, straw, timber, embodied energy, toxicity, finishings); services (on-site supply, micro-hydro, wind & solar energy, re-use & recycling, compost toilets, greywater systems etc). 11) Urban Living: Healthy & sustainable living in cities; suburban retrofit & reducing your ecological footprint; apartment living first steps; engaging with local communities & councils; subdivision & development; layout and integration of urban areas/activities (community based and adapted to the landscape, transport and service corridors, zoning for use and services, infrastructure and community facilities). 12) Culture & Invisibles: Values, assumptions & mindsets; personal, social & economic transformation; legal structures, ownership and privilege; function of money, banking & financial systems, alternative currencies; decision-making procedures, social roles and conflict management. MODULE 1 — PHILOSOPHY & DESIGNTOPICS:❖ Welcome — Introductions, names, selecting item for welcome; Whakatau; informal Celebration based on the 4 elements (Earth/Body - the ground that supports and nourishes, Fire/Spirit - above, that uplifts and energises, Water/Emotion - the flow on the ground that transports and mixes, Air/Mind - the fast moving mixing breath that envelopes); Getting to know - location, age, living environment, food preferences, strong emotions, spiritual values. ❖ Ethics & principles — the three foundation values; the aims or objectives of permaculture living; implementation strategies (observation and information collection, methods of design and the guidelines of life processes). ❖ Applications of permaculture — examples relating to: land & nature stewardship; built environment; tools & technology; culture & education; health & spiritual well-being; finance & economics; land tenure & community governance — integration and applications to different sites and living environments. ❖ Concepts of sustainability — systems within systems; inter-relationships, feedback, transitions and limits; integration not just efficiency; giving and receiving, the joys of enough. ❖ Ecological design — dynamic pulse, repeating patterns, spiral forms and hyperbolic geometry; biomimicry and processing at (Earth) surface conditions instead of Òheat and beatÓ; food webs and guilds. ❖ Methods of design — information (observation, recording, inventories, making linkages, deduction and relationships); analysis (site constraints/opportunities, generating options, bubble diagrams of relationships, layering information, zoning for use, elevational planning); drawing up (arranging structures, facilities, services and land use areas to meet objectives and site conditions, integrate for multi-functionality and productivity, many storages, staging).
MODULE 2 — LANDSCAPE & SITE ASSESSMENT(FOLLOWS ON FROM MODULE 1)TOPICS:❖ Patterns — reading the landscape, recognising natural patterns, pattern repetition, spiral forms and the golden mean, relationships between straight lines, circles and spirals, urban/industrial flat geometry and natureÕs hyperbolic geometry ❖ Observation — techniques of observation, awareness and focus, the big picture and attention to detail, scale repetition ❖ Landform, topography and contours — categorising land forms; matching form to function; maps, scales and symbolic representation; surveying and leveling; measurement (bearings & distance, pacing out and measuring angles); recording and drawing up; use of aerial photographic and survey base plans. ❖ Sectors and aspect — sun angles (over the seasons); wind directions (predominant winds, cold winds, strong winds); exposure to sun and wind; natural shading and local wind flows; frost flows and collection; views and background. ❖ Information gathering (nature) — land inventories (geology, soils, vegetation cover, waterways, slope, hazards); climatic data (seasonal temperatures, rainfall, hail, snow). ❖ Information gathering (culture) — legal boundaries, covenants and resource consent conditions; District and Regional Plan provisions and requirements; transport network (roads and rail); services available (electrical power, gas, telephone, water supply, sewage treatment, storm water and flood management measures); neighbouring features; sources of noise, pollution, chemical spray drift etc.
MODULE 3 (2 DAYS) — SOILS & GARDENINGTOPICS:SOILS❖ Nature of soils (physically and biologically) — grain size and proportions (clay/silt/sand/gravel), structure and texture; humus, topsoil and sub-soils; pH and nutrients (NPK, Ca & Mg, trace minerals); soil web of microbes (bacteria, fungi, bugs & worms); nutrient storage and release (interaction of aerobic and anaerobic microbes). ❖ Soil structure — soil moisture and compaction; effects of cultivation; animal pugging. ❖ Soil testing — visual soil inspection; nutrient testing; soil moisture; indicator plants. ❖ Soil/plant/animal relationships — energy and nutrient cycles and recycling; carbon & hydrogen energy production base; nitrogen cycle, storage and release; liming and the importance of calcium; role of water and air in transport and mixing. ❖ Compost — materials (dry and wet plants, manures, minerals); C:N ratio, water & air requirements; making a compost heap, hot composting and turning the heap; types of bins etc; purpose and use of compost. ❖ Soil preparations and aids — liquid manures, seaweed, rock dusts, compost teas, EM (effective micro-organisms) and biodynamic preparations. GARDENING❖ Garden layout & design — siting for sun, warmth, shelter, access, diversity; layout of beds and access, keynote design, integrating short and longer term annuals and perennials; companion planting, crop rotation, green manures, fallowing and mulching. ❖ Garden preparation — double-digging preparation, and no-dig and sheet mulching; building up humus and micro-organisms, additional of compost, sand or clay additions; preparation of seed beds and planting out. ❖ Types of gardens — herb areas and perennials; salad vegetables; climbers and shrubs (beans , tomatoes etc), root crops (annuals like potatoes, carrots etc, and perennial like artichokes etc); long season crops (corn etc); crop associations (3 sisters of corn, beans, and squash); flowers and colour/smell. ❖ Plant health — soil fertility, mulching and plant rotations and associations; beneficial insect plants; protective and fortifying aids; observation and plant sanitation; low toxicity sprays. ❖ Weed management — cultivation and weed colonisation; ground covers and mulching; grubbing and tine weeding; steaming and flaming; salting. ❖ Seed saving — seed fertility and hybrids, storing seeds, preparing seeds (chilling etc), collection of seed, sharing and continual re-planting. DAY 1 - SOILS
DAY 2 - GARDENING
MODULE 4 — WATER & WATER HARVESTINGTOPICS:❖ Nature of water — forms of water and properties of water (solutions, suspensions, mixing and transport); importance to life, availability of fresh water, pH of water, medium of exchange; patterns of water, reflected in all living creatures; water memory and effects of pollution; hydrological cycle (water catchments; transport of sediments and nutrients; sources of water, groundwater, waterways, lakes and wetlands). ❖ Purification and treatment — water-borne diseases and pollution; function of ground seepage and spring water; effects of riparian planting; effects of water plants and status of stored water (algae, macrophytes, water weeds); sand filtration; filtering and mineralisation; liming; vortices, salt, ozone and silver treatment. ❖ Storage — to ground (impermeable surfaces, mulching, cover/forests, contouring and swales); to natural lakes and wetlands; to reservoirs (out of stream and turkey nest, in-stream and keyline, earth dams and ferro-cement tanks). ❖ Harvesting — from ground (wells/bores), springs, surface water (streams and lakes), from rooves and paved areas. ❖ Use and conservation — uses of water and multiple uses (sharing and trade-offs - in-stream values, domestic/stock/industrial, irrigation/hydro-power, waste absorption and dilution, transport, recreation); household use and conservation (drinking/cooking, washing, showers, toilets, re-use and garden watering from greywater); irrigation methods and effective water use. ❖ Aquaculture — wild harvesting (fresh water plants and fish, salt water shellfish, near shore fish and deep water fish, seaweed); domestic culturing (fresh water ponds, coastal ponds and out-to-sea e.g. mussel rafts).
MODULE 5 — AIR & CLIMATETOPICS:❖ Nature of the atmosphere — components (N, O, H2O, CO2, CH4) and the role of life; fast-moving mixing and transporting medium, importance of air to plants and animals; patterns of air movement, cloud formations, macro and micro climates. ❖ Climates — factors that affect climate; types of climates (tropical, temperate, semi-arid and arid) and their distribution; global circulation patterns and the interaction of climates; climate change and de-forestation, soil degradation, eco-system changes (e.g. in the oceans) and fossil fuel burning. ❖ Weather — rainfall generation ( warm and cold fronts, orographic uplift), wind generation and speeds (Beaufort scale); snow, sleet, hail and ice formation; frost formation, flows and trapping; diurnal effects and micro-climates; droughts; forecasting. ❖ Air quality — air pollution, urban heat effects, inverse layers; re-vitalisation (forest regeneration, biodynamic and agnihotra techniques). ❖ Shelter and shade — benefits from shelter and shade; shelter layout (belts of trees, space planting, overall impacts from trees); design of shelter belts (orientation, overlaps, openness, height and effect); species selection for site and multifunctions.
MODULE 6 — ENERGY & TECHNOLOGYTOPICS:❖ Nature and types of energy — potential energy and work; transfer of heat (radiation, convection, conduction) and entropy or disorder; types (mechanical, electro-magnetic, chemical). ❖ Sources of energy — fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas, uranium); physical renewable (solar, wind, water, tidal, ocean thermal); bio-renewable (methane, bio-diesel, ethanol). ❖ Energy analysis — energy flows and energy efficiencies; whole-of-life or embodied energy (emergy). ❖ Technology — scientific approach and application of technologies (linear cause-effect, reductionist, ad hoc combinations using high energy inputs, high temperature and pressure processing); social assessment of research and technological developments (toxic chemicals, genetic engineering, nanotechnology); industrialisation of agriculture; mass media and the internet. ❖ Appropriate technology — small-scale, diversified, holistic, integrated; sufficient production, passive conservation, efficient and sustainable; 4 R principles (reduce, repair, re-use, recycle); matching form and function. ❖ Transport alternatives — planning of working and living environments for proximity and effective transport; multi-mode integrated transport networks (pedestrian, cycle-ways, feeder services to transport nodes); alternative fuels and fuel efficiencies. ❖ Energy alternatives — conservation and demand reduction; meeting objectives (light, heat, motion etc) with appropriate energy sources/type; decentralise renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro combinations); methane from ÒwastesÓ, bio-fuels from crops.
MODULE 7 — ORCHARDS, ROW CROPS & SMALL ANIMALSTOPICS:ORCHARDS & ROW CROPS❖ Selection for climate and site — tropical, temperate, semi-arid; wind-hardy; salt, wetness, dryness tolerant; complementary range of food and fibre crops and trees — row crops (flower, stem, root), berries, vines, shrubs & trees (fruit, nuts, oils, fibre) etc. ❖ Layout — spatial needs and pollination requirements; forming guilds and beneficial relationships; suitable physical conditions and placement within the landscape; site-specific integration of selected plants, and relationships with other land uses, buildings, facilities etc ❖ Planting & propagation — planting of seeds, seedlings and young (grown on) trees; grafting and budding; care of seedlings and young plants. ❖ Orchard management — soil fertility and plant health, transition aids for health and fertility; companion planting and eco-system development (diversity and mutli-layering); pruning; management of low cover (grasses, ÔweedsÕ, ground cover); integration with small animals (bees, poultry and pigs). SMALL ANIMALS❖ Role of small animals — ecology of plants and animals; manuring, seeding & pollination; planting for feed & storages. ❖ Management & care — housing, feed and water, health care, uses and killing.
MODULE 8 — LARGE ANIMALS & FORESTRYTOPICS:LARGE ANIMALS❖ Role of large animals — effects of grazing/manuring on grasslands and soil fertility; ruminants and browsing or grazing animals (cattle, sheep, goats), predators and prey. ❖ Management & care — grazing management (rotation and set stocking); water demands and water supply; shelter and shade; access ways and stock movement; health care; uses and killing. ❖ Structures — fencing (post & wire, electric - gates and strainers etc); yard layout and construction; TB testing, sheep shearing, shelters, hay making and storage etc. FORESTRY❖ Role of forests — types, diversity and habitats; soil stabilisation and re-generation, air quality and rainfall, water storage and purification, aesthetics and wilderness, services and uses (food, fibre, energy, firewood, timber etc). ❖ Forest regeneration — colonisation and succession; grassland/forest relationships and margins; temperate and tropical forest relationships (nutrients, soils, water, air, insects and animals). ❖ Forest uses and services — layout and uses; shelter & shade; water supply and air quality; willows for basketry etc; firewood management, coppicing, cutting & storage; energy forestry for biofuels; timber plantations, planting density, pruning & thinning; species selection for uses and sites.
MODULE 9 — HAZARDS & CATASTROPHESTOPICS:❖ Living in a dynamic world — nature of dynamic processes and frequencies of occurrence (many small to few large events); feedback systems and sudden transitions; coping with catastrophes; chaos and opportunities, harmony and vitality; perceptions of risk and reality. ❖ Types of hazards — Natural - physical (earthquake, flood, drought etc), - biological (epidemic, pest infestation, eco-system turn-over or collapse); Social - personal (accidental death of serious injury, crime etc), - societal (rioting/looting, chemical spills, war, revolution etc); Economic - personal (job loss, bankruptcy), - societal (general strike, collapse of the monetary system). ❖ Information on hazards and risks — databases and maps of natural hazards (councils & government departments, standards & manuals); books and websites; avoidance and protection measures. ❖ Preparedness for hazards — escape (safe ways and meeting places); storages (water, food, clothing, energy, health care, personal necessities); tools (spade, rope, axe, matches, heating/cooking equipment); contacts (family, neighbourhood groups, community support); re-building (CD, insurance, mutual assistance); 4 Rs (reduction, readiness, response, recovery). ❖ Practical tools — water storage and purification; temporary compost toilet; making a fire; temporary shelter; wild foods; herbal remedies & cleaning agents.
MODULE 10 — BUILT ENVIRONMENTTOPICS:❖ Principles of building biology and ecology — building a living environment for physical, mental and emotional well-being; building for harmony, warmth, fresh air and light, without harmful sounds, smells, gases, pollution, electro-magnetic radiation and microbes; building with local, durable and reusable materials, from non-depleting resources and without damaging the environment. ❖ Orientation and layout — relating to the site environment; fitting the landform and natural features, taking account of sun and wind directions; internal and external spaces and their uses and relationships; locating and relating to the neighbourhood and community facilities. ❖ Building design — interior/exterior relationships; furnishings; warmth and ambience (passive solar, insulation, orientation, thermal mass, airflow, verandas, clerestorey windows, conservatories, active solar storage and heating systems); acoustic design, lighting and colour; layout of services and treatment systems, electro-magnetic effects. ❖ Building materials and construction — selection of materials, embodied energy and local availability (timber, earth, straw, lime, brick, concrete, steel); properties of materials (durability, toxicity and off-gassing, electro-magnetic effects etc); claddings, coverings, paints and oils; furnishing materials and coverings. ❖ Services — heat (active solar, heat exchange, log fire, gas and electricity); hot water (solar and wetbacks); cooking, light (gas, electricity, wood range); water supply (rainwater, bore, spring, waterway); waste recycling (compost and water flush toilets, greywater treatment and re-use, solid waste re-use and recycling); stormwater; cleaning and maintenance (cleaning products, repair and re-use).
MODULE 11 — URBAN LIVINGTOPICS:❖ Living in the city — healthy and sustainable living in cities; the challenges of public infrastructure, transport distances and energy supply, and industrial production; city planning and the motor car; adding self-reliance, retrofitting for community and developing the local economy; community food gardens, water supply and waste recycling. ❖ Suburban retrofit — a permaculture back garden, reducing your ecological footprint, family self-reliance; combining sections and re-building a small community with a diversity of activities, services and local work. ❖ Apartment living — first steps of responsibility and sustainability (balcony garden, indoor growing, Bokashi waste recycling, reducing water and electricity use, knowing your neighbours and mutual support). ❖ Building community — supporting local community groups and developing links between them; making submissions on District/Regional plans as a group; joining work and business associations and raising social and environmental issues at your workplace; eco-communities (co-housing, virtual and dispersed communities, examples of urban eco-communities). ❖ Urban layout and development — layout for healthy living (based on communities, adapted to the landscape, multi-level clustering, tiered transport and service networks, diversity and integration of activities and functions); distinct communities with a community centre hub; landscape defined transport and service corridor connections; zoning for public infrastructure, parks and recreational areas, social, health and educational services.
MODULE 12 — CULTURE & INVISIBLESCULTURE❖ The nature of culture — child rearing & social conditioning; basic assumptions of beliefs, values and methods of analysis; ideologies and paradigms; what are the essential features of capitalism, and what do they result in. ❖ Cultural transformation — challenge and change, necessity is the mother of invention; the inter-dependence of sustainability, transforming at all levels in a mutually supporting manner; personal (self-awareness, health awareness, meditation, retreats, going bush; community (group discussions, group awareness activities, community building); economy (alternative legal and financial structures, transforming agriculture, energy supply, chemical industries etc); environment (land & water care groups, taking responsibility for your consumption/wastes). INVISIBLES❖ The purpose and forms of ownership — access to resources and services; separation of ownership and control (management); forms of ownership (commons, rental, public, cooperative, shareholding, private); ownership alternative (cross-leasing, trusts, cooperative companies, community rentals). ❖ The function and issue of money — medium of exchange & store of value; exchange and beneficial value; interest and debt based money; alternative local currencies, LETS, fee-based regional currencies. ❖ Decision-making and conflict management — social roles and types of people (using available skills and team building); decision-making procedures (leader/boss, selected group, majority voting, consensus); management of conflict (engagement and taking responsibility, community or group support, facilitation & mediation, discipline & punishment).
See the course brochure For more information about any of the Permaculture Design Courses please contact Gary and Emily Williams at (06) 362 6684 or email gary@waterscape.co.nz Visit Gary and Emily's site www.waterscape.co.nz |