Permaculture Design Certification (PDC)

Course Description

This 72-hour course will provide farmers and leaders of organizations with the knowledge and skills of permaculture design principles and concepts, equipping graduates with an internationally recognized certificate in Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Institute.

Our courses combine a mix of classroom and fieldwork to get hands-on experience with implementing a Permaculture system. Our trainers facilitate discussion so participants can share and learn from each other based on their various experiences and backgrounds. We focus on the application of techniques and building practical skills as well as understanding theory, to ensure that students can return home with confidence to face realities they experience in their daily lives.

Our Curriculum 

Our PDC courses cover a wide variety of topics that are all essential to learn in order to implement a permanent agriculture system.The topics covered will follow the textbook Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison as well as additional topics deemed important by the EARN training staff based on local context. Each day, the topics covered will be decided by the instructors based upon the progress of the course and the opportunities available on the farm. A rough outline of the topics covered for this course can be seen below:

• • • • Concepts, Themes, and Methods of Design
      • Pattern Understanding
      • Water
      • Earthworks and Earth Resources
      • Soils
      • Trees and Woody Plants
      • The Humid Tropics
      • Dryland Strategies
      • Aquaculture
      • Local Organizational and Economic Strategies
      • The Global Permaculture “Nation”