2011 72-Hour Urban Permaculture Certification Design Course with Sara Dent & Rin Innes
Learn How to Grow Your Own Food & Permaculture Design in the City!
Downtown Eastside, Vancouver
In association with SOLEFood Farm
Course work + hands-on full growing season, organic gardening & urban farming
techniques
Facilitators/Educators: Sara Dent and Erin Innes
Course Schedule: Introductory Weekend April 8: 6-9pm, 9 & 10: 10am-5pm
10am-5pm: April 30, May 21, June 25, July 23, August 13, 27, September 24
Wrap Weekend October 21: 6-9pm, 22 & 23: 10am-5pm
Cost: $225 Introductory Weekend, $900 – $1,100 Full Course
Sliding Scale / Scholarships Potentially Available / Payment Plans Possible
Information / Registration: sara@farmlove.org, 778-968-5518 www.farmlove.org
Dive into the fundamentals of ecological design theory and practice and earn
your internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate. From growing
food and creating healthy soil to building community capacity and re-visioning the
urban environment, this 72-hour course will give you the skills and experience
you need to live abundantly in our changing times and be a regenerative force for
the planet and your community.
As a learning community, we will look at all aspects of urban gardening, from
garden designing, plant propagation, composting, seed saving, to starting the
winter garden and more. We will study the design philosophy of permaculture
and its application within an urban setting. The DTES will be our classroom, from
SOLEFood Farm, to Cottonwood Gardens and in between. Guest teachers will
demo: bee keeping, aquaponics, backyard chickens, and more.
What is PERMACULTURE?
Permaculture is the ancient art of studying Nature’s principles and applying
her gardening techniques through systems design to human habitats. In
a natural ecological system there is no waste and no external inputs. In
cities, we have the opportunity to put these ideas into practice to create more
sustainable living environments that are less dependent on fossil fuels for food
production and energy. The term permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison
of the Australia Permaculture Research Institute (PRI). This course will follow
Mollison’s curriculum, with a focus on permaculture applications within an urban
environment.
The permaculture topics this course will cover:
- Permaculture Ethics & Principles
- Observation & Site Analysis
- Energy Conservation
- Natural Cycles & Pattern Recognition
- Mapping & Design Exercises
- Animal Husbandry
- Trees & Food Forests
- Soil Building & Ecology
- Plants, Propagation & Planting Strategies
- Eco-Building & Appropriate Technology
- Aquaculture, Water Harvesting, Management & Conservation
- Urban Permaculture & Social Ecology
About the Teachers
Sara Dent is a trained organic farmer and Certified Permaculture Designer
through the Linnaea Ecological Garden Programme (Cortes, BC), and Teacher
with the Urban Permaculture Guild. She has farmed across B.C. and in Mexico.
She brings her enthusiasm for organic matter and growing local, along with her
training as an arts facilitator to permaculture education.
Erin Innes is a Certified Permaculture Designer and a recognized Permaculture
Teacher with the Urban Permaculture Guild. She has a long history in community
activism and collective organizing, focusing on popular education and un-
schooling. She is deeply involved in grassroots food justice work and founded the
Farmhouse Farm Bike-Powered Urban Farm. Erin currently sits on the Steering
Committee for the Main Street Village of Village Vancouver Transition Initiative.
