The Permaculture Design Certificate is considered by many to be the strongest foundation course available to begin 'skilling up' for a world in flux. An intensive, on-farm course - theory and practical experience as a comprehensive introduction to Permaculture Design.
In a world out of balance, we are all looking for solutions.
Solutions to effective ways of growing healthy, organic food in urban
environments. Solutions to ways of farming that can both feed a family,
earn an income and build soil fertility. Solutions to ways of
retrofitting an existing house or property that results in lower energy
costs and better health for its inhabitants. Solutions that use
intelligent, thoughtful design principles to build sustainable lives,
and sustainable communities in a world of Peak Everything.
Permaculture principles, like any really good design principles, can be
applied across any biosphere, any property, any landscape, any city.
Permaculture is a network of well-grounded theories and techniques
that, over time, result in sustainable and productive systems. Systems
for living, architecture, food production, land management and
community. No chemicals and no excuses. Just good, thoughtful,
innovative and effective design for the needs of our species.
What is a Permaculture Design Certificate Course?
The Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC) have been delivered
since the early 1980's to possibly millions of people across the globe.
All manner of people have done a PDC to equip themselves with an
ability to confront constant cultural & environmental change &
to become more sustainable, low energy-use and truly useful members of
a community.
The PDC is an efficient & cost effective means of gaining the
knowledge of Permaculture Ethics & Principles together with
amassing skills, techniques & a knowledge base for designing &
developing sustainable human settlements - from a small home to a broad
acre farm. The 2 week residential format combines all of this to make
for a totally empowering experience that is very likely to change your
life…not to mention the connections and friends you will make for life
too!
Why take this Permaculture Design Certificate Course?
Milkwood Permaculture provides the PDC course in an intensive
residential format, with small class sizes for each course. This means
more time for questions, discussion, demonstration and for lots of
hands-on practical sessions - something that cannot normally be offered
by a 'classroom style' PDC with 30+ students.
This PDC delivers the curriculum from The Permaculture
Institute of Australia (Bill Mollison). The curriculum is therefore
based on Mollison's magnus opus: Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. The
PDC is a very intensive learning experience that, in our opinion,
requires creative facilitation to be delivered optimally, countering
the difficulties many face from traditional "chalk & talk" style
delivery.
Milkwood Permaculture runs PDC courses at Milkwood Farm, our newly
established Permaculture Demonstration Site in Central-Western NSW.
Milkwood Permaculture is currently transforming a 20-acre chunk of
sunburnt, clapped-out sheep country into a fertile, sustainable
small-holding incorporating food forest systems, innovative water
catchment systems, Keyline techniques, passive-solar structures and
small-scale livestock rotation systems, all using Permaculture
principles and practice. In addition to the PDC course curriculum, this
course therefore involves students in Permaculture in the making, with many elements to the system being actively built and established as part of our on-site courses.
The 72-hour Permaculture Design Course is accepted by many Universities as equivalent to one
university/college subject of one semester. This course can also serve
as the foundation for further study and is a prerequisite for a Diploma
in Permaculture Design, awarded by The Permaculture Institute. The
credit attributed to a PDC is accepted by a growing number of
universities around the world. That said, this PDC manages to balance
the needs of participants by delivering the curriculum using a diverse
range of outdoor practicums & design exercises for applied
learning, along with imagery-based slideshows & videos.
About the course curriculum: Milkwood Permaculture's PDC
course covers the basics of the following Permaculture principles, with
additional workshops, practical on-farm sessions and films:
- Permaculture ethics
- Concepts and themes in Permaculture Design
- Methods of good design
- Pattern Understanding
- Climatic factors of design
- Trees, water and energy cycling
- Soils
- Earthworking + earth resources
- Aquaculture
- Design for different biospheres: tropics / drylands / cool climates
- Future scenarios + strategies
This PDC accreditation can lead to further training, teaching, international aid work, local design work or just implementation of Permaculture principles within your own life and surrounds, depending on your own personal trajectory.
About the teacher:
Nick Ritar divides his time between Permaculture teaching, Permaculture Design projects,
Permaculture consultancy for both the urban and rural sectors, and the ongoing
establishment of Milkwood Permaculture Farm. In addition to teaching
courses for Milkwood Permaculture, Nick has taught alongside Permaculture legends like
Darren Doherty and Geoff Lawton. He has extensive experience in
community technology and learning techniques in his various former
lives prior to setting up Milkwood Permaculture with his wife, Kirsten
Bradley. Nick's full profile...
Included in your course fee:
The Milkwood Permaculture PDC
course fee is all-inclusive for the duration of your stay at Milkwood
Farm, including all meals and accommodation on-site. Meals are organic country
cooking with omnivore or vegetarian options, with a high ratio of yummy
organic produce coming from Milkwood Farm itself. See our Staying at Milkwood page for full info on accommodation and facilities.
During the course:
Class starts on the morning of Sunday 4th and concludes in the afternoon of Saturday 17th, with a day off in the middle on Saturday 10th. Students are welcome to arrive the afternoon before the course, and head off the morning after the course's completion. Classes run in a rough 9am - 5pm format, depending on the material of the day. Outside class hours, students are welcome to interact with the farm and its daily chores, go for a swim, go for a bushwalk or make use of the extensive library provided.
Course fee: $1,300
Booking into the course
To secure your spot in the Milkwood Spring PDC course pay the full course fee of $1300. Click the green button at right to pay via PayPal or your credit card.
We use PayPal to receive payments and take bookings for our courses. You can book your course via PayPal without creating an account by providing them with your credit card details. Your banking details are secure and will not be provided to Milkwood Permaculture or any other third party. If you are not comfortable using PayPal
get in contact with us and we will arrange an alternative payment method. Please ensure you read our
refund policy.
Once you've booked into this course, we will contact you via email regarding food preferences, what to bring along with you, and any further info you might need or request regarding camping and transport to/from Milkwood Farm.
Milkwood is a small organic family farm near Mudgee in Central Western NSW. A Permaculture Demonstration Farm currently under development, Milkwood features extensive permaculture earthworks and water-harvesting features, our amazing passive-solar cottage, food-forests in the making, seedball production and many other examples of sustainable and regenerative best-practice for farming and living.
Our courses are held in our family's woolshed with beautiful views of Campbells Creek Valley and our organic farm cooking is such that students often joke about moving in permanently.
Getting here
Mudgee is an easy 4 hours by car or 40 minutes by air from Sydney, and is serviced by Countrylink Rail and Mudgee Airport. See our Getting to Milkwood page for a map and full details on getting here by plane, train or automobile.
Accommodation
- For this short course, we offer the option to stay at Milkwood Farm in our creekside camping area for $30 per person, per night. This option includes dinner, breakfast and use of all amenities. See our Staying at Milkwood page for more details. After booking into your course we will shortly contact you about whether you'd like to take up this option.
- BaMack Homestead B&B is 15 minutes up the road from Milkwood Farm. They have special rates for Milkwood students, so mention us when you book: 02 6373 8312.
- Stay at Bushlands Holiday Park in Windeyer, 15 minutes down the road. Bushlands has a range of cabin and camping options, and the Windeyer Pub, located right next door, does counter meals some nights of the week.
- Stay further afield in Mudgee, which has a range of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets. Mudgee Tourism Website.
