- surpluspermaculturedesign

Join us for a two week Permaculture Design Course (PDC)

Email us for more info and inscription: surpluspermaculturedesign@gmail.com

After a few years of settling on our beautiful piece of land, Quinta do Forniçô and Surplus Permaculture Design are excited to invite you to join us for a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in a beautiful granite abandoned village and 14-hectare farm in Central Portugal. A unique place where international PDC teachers decided to live together, build an intentional community and start raising their families together!

Quinta do Forniçô is a 14 hectare piece of land in Central Portugal and has formed a Cooperativa Integral called Farol Do Colibri. The abandoned granite village was bought 4 years ago by a group of Permaculture Teachers and natural builders. Being the founders of Surplus Permaculture Design, they decided to not only work together but build a live together, in community and embody what they teach.

Permaculture is a design system that aligns human communities with the ecological imperatives of a living planet. Permaculture is a way of organizing knowledge, a connecting system that integrates science, art, politics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the diverse experiences and resources available in any community.

What is a PDC?

Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is an internationally-recognized, 72-hour course resulting in a Permaculture Design Certificate. It provides an introduction to permaculture design as set forth by movement founder Bill Mollison. The PDC serves as a foundation for further permaculture work and study and is a prerequisite for the Diploma in Permaculture Design, offered through The Permaculture Institute and Gaia University. Credit for this course is now accepted by a growing number of universities around the world. To date, thousands of permaculture designers worldwide have been certified through this course, and now comprise a global network of educators, ecological activists, consultants and practitioners who are influencing the decisions of major corporations, small business and people from all walks of life to change the way we view and design our landscape, our surroundings, our relationships and our daily lives so we can grow the revolution that our planet needs.

What to expect:

This PDC promises to be a very unique experience. We teach based on our real life experiences with Permaculture, here at Quinta do Forniçô and around the world. With more than a decade of experience consulting, the two course facilitators have collectively taught more than 20 permaculture design courses, dozens of permaculture workshops, and they have designed and constructed more than 20 earthen buildings, 25 edible perennial landscapes and 30 appropriate technology solutions across three continents. It is our goal to live, breathe and practice Permaculture every day of our lives, and we are enthusiastic to share as much of our knowledge as possible. The 72-hours of coursework, required to receive a Permaculture Design Certificate, will be covered over the two-week period. It promises to be a PDC full of energy and excitement, where sessions will be taught to accommodate different learning styles combining lectures, group discussions, visual demonstrations, hands-on participatory learning and other creative ways of teaching Permaculture. In addition to the information presented, many participants say the interpersonal activities and relationships formed during the workshop are what truly shape the experience. Every morning participants will be able take part in the existing permaculture activities on the farm. All students are required to be present for the full two weeks if they wish to receive the certificate.

Who is this course for?

Anyone interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle, creating health and well-being for their community, and working towards an abundant, ecologically responsible future
Development and/or aid workers
Project managers looking to bring sustainability to their activities
Backyard gardeners
Farmers and agriculturalists
Landscape designers seeking a more sustainable dimension for their work
Community activists
Homeowners who want to invest in the long-term productivity of their property
Educators

Course Details:

This 2-week program is designed to give participants the inspiration and practical knowledge they need to become a positive change in the world. The course will include a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand. We will cover every major topic in Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: a Designers Manualin the classroom and also in the gardens.

We will focus heavily on the design process so that each participant feels empowered to take the knowledge with them and put it into practice.

The course curriculum is as follows:

Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture
Permaculture principles and how to apply them in your daily life
Patterns in nature, time and space in permaculture design
Systemic thinking; exploring the connections between elements and how to identify leverage points for change
Methods of design; how to apply permaculture design tools and strategies to your design problems. How to increase your chances of a success by following a well-defined design methodology
Evaluation and Monitoring; how to follow up on your projects and ensure they are succeeding.
Climatic factors and strategies for all the major climates and how to work with them
Trees, forests and forest gardening; how to mimic natural forest systems to create an abundance of food, fiber and fodder
Home gardening; how to create high yielding, low input annual gardens for food sovereignty
Water management, value, catchment, usage and conservation
Soil; physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and how to work with the soil food web to build new soils, prevent erosion, create a healthy ecosystem and regenerate degraded land
Earthworks; shaping the land to realize abundance with mother earth and create positive effects on ecological systems (swales, terraces, ponds, etc.)
Aquaculture; exploring the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants
Natural building; how to design climate appropriate structures and build beautiful, spiritually uplifting homes using locally sourced & natural materials
Urban permaculture strategies and approaches
Alternative systems; bioregional organization, community development, alternative economic systems and permaculture as aid
Community living and alternative lifestyles that harmonize people and the planet.

As part of the course, participants will help to co-create designs for real world projects that could include elements such as food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural building, water catchment, irrigation systems and more. Participants will have the opportunity to design their own land or any project they are involved with.

Please contact us for more information if you are interested in designing your own land or project

Cost: For this course we us a sliding scale: 750-1000 EUR

Minimum course price: 750 EUR

Maximum course price: 1000 EUR

At Quinta do Forniçô, we recognize the havoc that our current economic system (capitalism) has created, and envision another model. However, even as we work toward a new model in building community, environmental regeneration, and creating abundant landscapes we realize that we are not there yet. We live in a global world with large disparities. The sliding scale is one way of acknowledging differences in wealth, income, costs, and privilege and actively address the economic disparities in our communities and society. This means you choose what to pay within the range!

Please read some of our reasons for using this method of payment:

♦ These price points are set to make the workshop accessible to people with different levels of income, so that financial resources need not be a barrier. Please chose the price point that best reflects your ability to pay based on your individual circumstances. A sliding scale asks you to be an active participant in an alternative economic system.

♦ If a sliding scale is implemented effectively, everyone pays a similar percentage of their income for the same services. This way, the cost of our services is not pocket change for some people and a big commitment to other people.

♦ By using a sliding scale, those who have the ability to pay more do, and thereby allow people with a small income to also participate in this course

This price includes all meals and a place to stay for the duration of the course. Transport from Viseu to the farm and back is not included in the course fee. There are taxi’s and Bolt around with an estimated cost of 12-18 EUR per ride. You can share the ride with other course participants.

We ask all registrants to make a non refundable deposit of 250 dollars to secure your spot. The remaining fee be paid in cash on arrival (Euro).

**Scholarships are available for low-income people from Portugal

The Accommodation

During your stay, you will be camping at our beautiful campground in the forest. You bring your own tent and mat. If this is not possible for you, please let us know and we can help provide! There are other types of accommodation available upon request (such as caravan, mobilehome). For these types of accommodation, an extra fee is added to the tuition.

In case of interest, please send us an email for more information.

The Food

Fresh vegetarian food will be provided and sourced from the farm and local markets throughout the course.

Special dietary needs can be accommodated. Please let us know in advance.

Email us for more info and inscription: surpluspermaculturedesign@gmail.com