Permaculture Design Certification Course – VerdEnergia

VerdEnergia is proud to offer workshops and courses related to permaculture, wholistic health, jungle medicine, and the culinary arts. Come learn from experts in the field and those practicing these skills every day.

Permaculture Design Certification Course

JAN 29 – FEB 20, 2019

– Basic course cost: $1775 (includes camping spot, full vegetarian meals and daily yoga classes – Upgrades and discounts available.)
– Class limit: 15 maximum – fills up fast!
– Participants earn their PDC (permaculture design certification)

A 21-day intensive immersion course exploring the theories outlined in Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual in both hands-on and classroom settings. Curriculum covers regenerative practices as well as design theory and the basics of design consultation on a professional level. Our well-rounded permaculture courses cover the many facets of permaculture and focus on practical solutions in agriculture, building and design, economics, social sciences and politics. Fresh, local food, daily immersive yoga classes and access to gorgeous ecovillage facilities are included in basic course costs.

Instructors

MARC TOBIN

Marc Tobin is an educator, consultant for groups and communities, and community organizer in the fields of sustainability, regenerative culture, and urban planning. He has led experiential and outdoor-based educational experiences for over 20 years. He is a Co-Director of The City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon, that has been widely cited as a leader in urban permaculture and placemaking. In his consulting, his clients include non-profits, businesses, neighborhood groups, ecovillages, and events. Some of the tools he uses include ecological design, sociocracy, conflict transformation, integral theory, organizational learning, social permaculture and group facilitation.

Marc began teaching in 1992 through outdoor education for children. This experience gave him a deep understanding of how to make nature based education interactive, meaningful and fun. He started teaching permaculture and ecovillage design to adults in 2005 in courses that offered credit through the University of Oregon. He has mentored many students in their research, independent studies and internships. Marc started teaching in Costa Rica in 2016, and has been increasingly focusing on international and cross-cultural community building, ecological regeneration and tropical agro-ecology.

As a semi-professional guitarist and group music leader, Marc weaves community based music into his courses and tours. He also helps design and run events that bring together music, dance, workshops, and hands-on service, such as the Village Building Convergence. With an extensive background in mindfulness and personal growth practices, he helps students and clients make crucial holistic connections between growth and healing in one’s inner experience and regenerative culture in the outer world. Previously, Marc ran the Ecovillage and Permaculture Institute at Lost Valley Educational Center, consulted in appropriate technology and renewable energy, and was a forest protection advocate. He also has lived in and helped run intentional communities for many years.

Marc holds a Master of Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from Naropa University.

STEVEN GANISTER

Steven Ganister is a Landscape Contractor, builder/carpenter, horticulturist, designer and consultant. He is immersed in permaculture everyday, managing a developing ecovillage community in Portland, Oregon for the past 7 years, which includes a highly productive and diverse 1.5 acre permaculture garden. Steven has experience designing, installing and managing residential and commercial permaculture projects in the Pacific Northwest, Florida, and Costa Rica.

In his teaching, Steven uses his years of direct experience in permaculture implementation and maintenance to help students understand what will really work in practical applications. In 2008, Steven was farm manager at Punta Mona, a Permaculture education center on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, where he also led visitor tours. He has explored many regions of Costa Rica throughout the years, and has gained a deep understanding of the geography and culture.

In 2009, Steven undertook a year long permaculture internship at Lost Valley Educational Center, where he apprenticed with Rick Valley, one of the Northwest’s most knowledgeable permaculture practitioners. Steven grew up on an island in the Florida Keys and was often immersed in nature, and practiced obtaining food and other yields from the land and sea. This gave him a deep sense of the interconnections in nature from an early age.

He holds degrees in Environmental Studies and Geography from Florida State University.

(With guest instructors/lecturers Sara Czarniecki, Joshua Hughes, Amanda Wilson and Esteban Jiminez Contreras of Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management.)

Please read through these to prepare for your educational experience at VerdEnergia. Each course will have its specific needs, but these are general guidelines to help you start planning.  READ HERE