Spring 2015 Permaculture Design Course

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Mar 6, 2015, 11:24:57 AM3/6/15

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Dear Friends of Local Food,

Kaw Permaculture and the Kansas Permaculture Institute’s are proud to present their spring Permaculture Design Certification Course,“Re-skilling for the Future: A Course in Permaculture Ethics, Principles and Design”

Do not miss this affordable opportunity to begin re-skilling for the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Our course begins Saturday, March 21 and continues each Saturday and Sunday through May 9 at Vajra Farm Permaculture Center, Oskaloosa, KS.

Learn how the sustainability movement known as permaculture promises to create an ecologically sound and economically viable system which neither pollutes nor exploits our planet.

The first part of this course consists of 48 hours of lecture, video and field work covering topics including food security, permaculture ethics, ecological principles, system design, sustainable soils, food production, earth works and construction of human habitats. The second part of the course consists of four, 6 hour practicum sessions that emphasize hands-on experience in land assessment, planning, and system design and includes developing skills in agroforesty management, creating plant guilds, using design charettes, constructing earthworks and using sustainable building technology. Together, both segments of this curriculum complete the 72 hour requirement for the international certification in Permaculture Design (PDC) that will be awarded through the Kansas Permaculture Institute.

Your training will consist of a dynamic mixture of lectures, video screenings of leading experts who demonstrate application of permaculture design principles, and visits to local area urban sites and farms engaged in permaculture practice. Lecture, discussion and hands-on sessions will include the following:

The case for Permaculture, energy dependency and food security.

Definition, Ethics & Principles.

History of agriculture, the industrial agricultural paradigm, ecological agriculture.

Ecological principles, climate, water, soil and nutrient cycles.

Ecosystems, lifecycles, succession, grassland, prairie, forest ecosystems, & biomes.

Design principles, importance of observation, patterns in nature, systems theory.

Soils, physical & chemical properties, nutrients & nutrient cycles, biodynamics, biota, soil ecology and food webs.

Food Production, composing, cover crops, raised beds, no-till, polyculture, pest management and plant guilds.

Food Forests, forest ecology, fungal associations, super guilds, nurse species and fruit/nut tree varieties, pruning & grafting.

Earthworks and Resources, swales, ponds, water harvesting, aquaculture & terraced beds.

The Built Environment, renewable resources, sustainable architecture, cab, chord and straw bale construction, passive solar & earth berm structures.

Renewable Energy Systems, solar heating, photovoltaics, wind turbines, micro hydroelectric systems.

Begin your journey toward sustainability by registering today. For information on course content, meeting times, locations, cost, and registration go to our website: http://www.kawpermaculture.com/education-training/ or contact Steve Moring at 785-691-7305.