Permaculture Institute

22/08/2023

We're excited to hold a Teacher Training & Retreat at the beautiful Rancho Margot in Costa Rica in February 2024. This course is for those who wish to teach permaculture, ecological living, and nature connection as well as for those wanting to take the lead with their own communities for bottom-up action. Are we not in need of more leadership in our world? Looking around at the examples we have is often a depressing exercise. Why not make it your passion? Come experience teaching and leading human to human, honing your abilities in the safe space of a training, with seasoned instructors and some truly stellar participants.

31/07/2023

Do you remember the Permaculture Drylands Journal? We are looking forward to spending some time over the next year to digitize much of the valuable material from this journal that ran for 32 issues between the late 1980's and the late 1990's.

29/06/2023

The Permaculture Institute, Inc. has a new website at permaculture dot org! We're excited to be organizing courses again and to publish new content that advances the field, incorporating insights learned over permaculture's first fifty years. We'll post new courses and content here as well.

09/06/2023

We can grow ecological culture wherever we are. It only gets better with time, in this case 10 years. Special thanks to the Permaculture Institute's Ros McCann for loving this space for so many years.

22/05/2023

In my permaculture consulting of the spring season all of my clients had strong views about the world and politics, which included both sides of the spectrum (not a lot in the middle interestingly), combined with momentary flashes of awakening about what we are doing to the planet, our communities, and each other. All of them expressed their views and insight as their motivating force for the work they're engaging in. I found ways of sharing that those worldviews and aha moments weren't going to be enough for them, and that what they needed even more is a grounding practice-based process that allows them to see beyond their views, and actualize their flashes of insight into a working force. Most of these projects already had attempts at building out regenerative systems, most of which were failing, some going on 10 years. They were losing ground to overgrowth, they were burning out their pastures with too many animals, they weren't building soil health, they couldn't keep staff happy and onboard, they planted trees they didn't tend, their revenue streams weren't profitable, and yet they had "silvopasture systems," "market gardens," and "agroforestry." Some also had repeated media success stories, of note. I ended up having to tell all of them: "You are a visionary, and found some promising concepts to latch onto, and have hired people who can build s**t, and you're failing because you never had a plan of how to organize yourselves, your ideas, and your landscape. Now you will need a design thinker on staff to lead your team to coalesce around a process and practice of ecological and regenerative decision making, who can develop staff capacity beyond their present ability, and who can read your landscape wholistically." I'm encouraged by all the programs and schools of design thinking happening in the world. It is the greatest missing skill. In fact, it is our truest achilles heel. I know from experience. Makes me REALLY want to focus on education again.

Within a week we will switch over to our new website with new courses coming soon. Scott Pittman, it's in your honor.

30/01/2023

Permaculture Institute board member Ros McCann through the Utah State University Extension Permaculture Initiative is now registering for the inaugural Intermountain West Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course spring 2023! Participants will learn essential skills for navigating our fast-changing world in increasingly ecological ways. Immerse yourself in a hybrid experience of online sessions culminating in a weeklong residential intensive in downtown Moab, UT. Cost: $1,200 including breakfast, dinner, and lodging. An early bird discount of $250 is available if you register by March 10, 2023. Event details and registration is at: bit.ly/permaculturecertificate

23/12/2022

"Nobody thinks about defending the defenders of the forest."

SAN MARTIN, Peru (AP) — Rolando Zumba, a gentle 59-year-old, wept, though the moment he described took place many years ago. Nothing has been the same since that day, when a park ranger took away his hunting rifles.

13/12/2022

Brad Lancaster recounts his decades of ecological culture building work through a regenerative lens. He's always been a huge inspiration to so many of us, and his work seems to pour from his pores like water springing from the earth after being infiltrated upstream.

Check out my latest blog essay,
"Leveraging struggles & potential to grow higher capacity & greater health in myself, my community, & the world:
A case study planting rain and neighborhood native food forests to grow regenerative abundance"
Read it in the link below:

https://www.harvestingrainwater.com/2022/12/leveraging-struggles-potential-to-grow-higher-capacity-greater-health-in-myself-my-community-and-the-world/

09/12/2022

Several of our friends are putting on and organizing this awesome virtual summit. Permaculture landscaping has its own field now, FOODSCAPING! Learn from pro edible landscapers at The Foodscaper Summit as you join us for an incredible two days of community, learning, inspiration, and networking with foodscaping leaders.

📅 January 18-19, 2023
📡 All Virtual

You’ll discover how to:
✔️ Create a successful foodscaping business
✔️ Design, install & maintain edible gardens for clients
✔️Deepen your knowledge of raised beds, water management systems & foodscaping plants
✔️Study and learn from successful case studies
✔️Create a distinctive niche for your business
✔️Meet an expert panel of experienced foodscapers
✔️Connect and network with mentors and peers
➕ so much more!

Register today! See the link in comments.

05/12/2022

Energy production doesn't get enough attention in permaculture. This course looks great to learn how to setup biogas systems. These systems work and can be very reliable, but best to learn from an expert. Check it out!