Permaculture Design Certificate Course and Sustainable Living Skills Immersion

Program Dates:

Summer 2013: June 16th – July 27th

-Participants in Aprovecho’s other programs (or past programs) receive $500 off their PDC tuition!

-Students already enrolled in the 2013 PDC receive $250 off their tuition if they bring a friend…and the friend does too!

Fall 2013: September 16th-October 26th

       -Early Bird Registration Deadline for Fall: 7/15/13–$300 discount

Aprovecho’s Sustainable Living Skills Program is the oldest program of its kind in the Northwest and includes hands on training in appropriate technology, sustainable forestry, natural building, and sustainable agriculture.  The 72 hour Permaculture Design curriculum is woven throughout the program, leaving students with a framework for integrating strategies and techniques into cohesive designs for sustainable human settlement.  A certificate of Permaculture Design will be presented at the end of the program.

As a well established yet ever evolving 30 year old site, Aprovecho’s campus is an excellent working classroom for the development of hands-on skills.  Various hands on projects from past courses have included constructing a solar shower, installing a greywater system, pond development, and ferro-cement tank construction.  Additionally, students will have the opportunity to become proficient in mixing and applying natural plasters and finishes, harvesting trees with hand tools, building bicycle powered machines, understanding and experiencing aquaculture and aquaponics systems, and much more.  Over a dozen teachers bring their experience to the table to help students best design and integrate the dynamic components of a sustainable lifestyle.

The Curriculum

Week 1 

Principles, Ethics, Observation

Introduction to Permaculture

Patterns and Design Process

Whole Foods and Nutrition

Fermentation

Permaculture Ethics and Principles

Permaculture Design Methods

Week 2

The Garden and Orchard

Soils, Composting

Bed Preparation, Sowing & Transplanting

Animals in the System

Forest Gardening

Seed Saving

Propagation

Week 3

Home Work and Appropriate Technology

Wood-Fired Cooking

Solar Hot Water

Introduction to Natural Building Principles and Practices

Earthen Plasters and Natural Finishes

Working with Wood

Humanure

Week 4

Broadacre Systems

Surveying and Implementing Earthworks

Non-Timber Forest Products (Mushroom Cultivation, Bamboo)

Forest Surveying

Rainwater Catchment and Greywater Systems

Earthworks and Water Harvesting

Tree Falling

Horse Logging

Week 5

The Wilderness and Beyond

Brice Creek Old Growth Hike

Botany and Plant Identification

Watershed Walk

Creek Restoration Project

Week 6

Integration and Design Project Synthesis

Invisible Structures

Design for Catastrophe

Urban Systems

Design Project Presentations

Life At Aprovecho

During the six week course you will be either in a shared dorm-room in our Strawbale or camping on our 40-acre land trust. There are classes from 9 am-4:30 pm with a break for lunch. All meals emphasize local and organic foods. Most weekends are free to explore the grander Pacific Northwest.

Cost: Tuition is on a sliding scale from $2,500-$3,000. The sliding scale is offered for attendees to pay within their means. Pay what you want within that scale.

Sign Up Now!