PDC Course Schedule

Doug lecturing before the hands on portion of the plant propagation session

Click here to download a sample schedule of our 2 week PDC programming: edt 6 schedule. 

We employ a daily schedule very similar to most courses.  This schedule is made up of four main class times during the day and one evening lesson.  The evening sections are usually focused more on movies and/or presentations.  The first week is a mix of hands-on activities, lectures, interactive games, and movies that give students lots of information in preparation for the group design projects during the following week.  We start the course with community building exercises and then jump right into the core principles of Permaculture. We have decided to model these first days after Mollison’s principles.  His version of the Permaculture Principles are laid out in the Introduction to Permaculture.  He beautifully blends the second and third chapters of the Designers Manual into a concise form of the principles in the Introduction to Permaculture book.  We choose to spend extra time on these first chapters as we believe it sets the foundation for using design based on how nature works.  We fit in a field trip or two that first week along with the exploration of patterns, which is highly enlightening for connecting to Nature. By the end of the week we get into the trinity of soil, water, and trees and how they are all inextricably interrelated.

The interconnected web of life we emphasis in the whole systems thinking of this course

Week Two delves into the different ecosystems of the world and how the designs differ for each climate.  This helps to support the focus of the second week, which is the group design project.  Time will be set aside for groups to work together to complete the design project assignment.  We weave this in and out with the last chapters of the book including aquaculture as well as the community/economic/urban side of all of this.  Students then present their designs in groups for 35-45 minutes depending on the group size.  It culminates in the no-talent show, which is a way to celebrate the course and recap some of the material at the same time.  We highly encourage costumes and complete silliness.  The last morning is when you receive your design certificate and we discuss how to move forward into the Permaculture world.

Joao enjoying the No-Talent show

The schedule is an ever-evolving entity because we are always re-evaluating to utilize any opportunity to improve our curriculum.  We also recognize the uniqueness of each site (due to factors such as culture, climate, and resources) and adjust the schedule accordingly.  Overall we feel it is the most accurate portrayal of the curriculum that Bill wanted, integrated with new school learning techniques to accommodate different learning styles.  In the end we want people to connect with their newfound community, draw inspiration from Nature, and have some fun doing it.