Permaculture Certificate Programs
Urban Permaculture Accelerated Training
Permaculture is more than just good gardening. It is a life long approach to analysis, action and social structures that results in better relationships, more functional systems and a clearer understanding of everything necessary for human communities to thrive.
40 hour training course (30 hours classroom, 10 hours field practice)
Place: The Old Stone House, 4th St and 5th Ave. Park Slope,Brooklyn
Time: 9am – 4pm
Dates: April 28, May 5 & 19, June 2 & 3
Course fee: $650
The Old Stone House gardens, located in Washington Park, are open for visits from dawn to dusk.
OSH is located between 4th & 5th Avenues and 3rd & 4th Streets in Park Slope, Brooklyn www.theoldstonehouse.org (718) 768-3195
The Urban Permaculture Accelerated Training course (UPAT) is a five day introduction to the principles and techniques of permaculture. It includes some field study and both group and individual projects. To register contact: permie@earthlink.net
UPAT description
The UPAT is a 5 day intensive exploration of permaculture.The UPAT certificate verifies that you participated in a permaculture training course. Ten additional hours of field practice are required to earn the certificate.
Objectives:
1. To introduce students to fundamentals for sustainability.
2. To teach cooperative dynamics and positivism.
3. To learn about useful plants and ecosystems design.
4. To relate our needs to our local and global resources.
5. To study homesteading skills and off-grid technologies.
This course on traditional permaculture topics such as energy use, buildings, food, waste streams and water systems will utilize current information in the media and classic truisms from voices of experience. To step into the rapid transitions that are in process, the emphasis is on social change and cooperative structures with lots of field models and hands on learning opportunities. Soil building and bioremediation techniques are at the forefront of our historically referenced gardens, showcasing plants for food, medicine, craft and wildlife support. Raising our quality of life, improving the commons, analysis of global outlooks, business ideas and healthy lifestyles will all be included. Held at the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War, this model at a park and middle school is pioneering useful landscapes in public space in NYC. Ranging further than a weekend intensive, yet requiring less commitment than a PDC, this course offers an approachable format for those who are new to permaculture and a comfortable re-entry for those who seek further practice. Ten additional hours of field practice are mandatory. UPAT certificate upon completion. Urban Permaculture Design Certificate options are available by individual arrangement.
Reading: Permaculture, A Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison is the main text for this course: it is not required. An Introduction to Permaculture, by Mollison is highly recommended. Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles by David Holmgren, Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway and Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield are useful as preparatory reading but are not required.
Classroom rules of conduct: No cell phone use during class or field sessions. Students will be expected to be on time. Please wear sensible clothes for comfortable all day sitting. For field study please wear shoes that cover your feet and bring water.
The Urban Permaculture Accelerated Training is a prerequisite to earning a Permaculture Design Certificate from the NY Permaculture-Exchange.
To earn a PDC requires no less than 72 hours of class time plus a group design project, field practice and a final test.
Contact: permie@earthlink.net to inquire about the full PDC program which will continue through the summer and into fall.