Curriculum
The course is divided into five modules. The topic is broad but the
following provides a summary of topics we expect to cover. This course
outline follows chapter headings from the official text, Bill
Mollison’s: Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual. There will
be additional handouts at the course.
Course runs on Saturday, Sunday – 8:30am-5.30pm with evening session on Saturday where we watch videos, talk and plan.
MODULE 1.
CONTEXT, EVIDENCE AND DESIGN THEORY.
Paths of Energy Descent.
Peak oil, climate change, soil depletion. Paths of energy descent, civic/economic disruption.
History of Permaculture.
The rise of permaculture has paralleled the rise in environmentalism
going back to Rachel Carson in the late 1950’s. Like many in the
1960’s, Bill Mollison saw the destruction of his environment in
his beloved Tasmania. After attending demonstrations and protests, he
went quiet for a few years and came back with the positivism of
permaculture. Exploring the journey to permaculture.
Concepts and themes of design.
Permaculture is a design system based on ethics and natural patterns in
nature. We introduce the ethical basis for permaculture and the
fundamental principles and directives.
Prime Directives of Permaculture.
The Ethical Basis of Permaculture. Live Intervention Principle/chaos
theory. The Basic Law of Thermodynamics Practical Design
Considerations. Niches, yields and cycles. Principles of disorder,
stress, harmony and stability. Yield, surplus and abundance.
MODULE 2.
PATTERN UNDERSTANDING, DESIGN APPLICATIONS,
TREES AND ENERGY.
Pattern Understanding
There are patterns in the landscape, there is meaning in the stars,
nature’s repeating patterns teach us how to live. An
investigation of patterns from mythology, tribal cultures, nature and
the human body. Design and scale overview. Edge thinking. Orders
of magnitude. Tribal use of patterning.
Methods and Patterns of Design
Approaching permaculture design, organizing principles for landscape,
homestead and bioregion. Applying harmonious design, soft energy
systems, basic water management.
Zone and Sector Analysis. Guilds in nature and design. Succession:
evolution of systems. Procedures in property design. Creating
harmonious systems. Integrating functionality.
Relationships in design. Reading the landscape: applying harmonious
design. Swales and land harmonics. Habitat, flood and fire mitigation,
food, shelter and transportation. Energy conservation/auditing,
sustainability. Capitalizing on the Sun/Solar energy, passive and PV.
Analysis – Site characteristics, observation, deductions from
nature, options and decisions, data overlay, map overlay, random
assembly, flow charts.
Trees and their Energy Transactions.
Trees are the backbone of our eco system. Without trees we are gone.
Trees help build soil and hold moisture, mitigate erosion and flooding
and can provide enormous quantities of food. Timber will become a very
valuable resource in energy descent.
Forest farming for food security, food forest gardens. Reforestation, trees in flood mitigation
MODULE 3.
WATER, SOIL, EARTHWORKS.
Climate Factors and the hydrological cycle.
We live in a time of climate change. To understand how to adapt and
mitigate the impact of climate change we need to understand how climate
works and its impact on landscape and settlement patterns. Weather
systems, precipitation, radiation and color, heat transfer, hot cold
and dry climates – characteristic and landscape effects. Wind.
Water
Water is the driving force of nature. The amount of fresh water on the
planet is finite. Half of the world’s fish live in fresh water.
Wars will be fought over water. Water is life.
Overview of water. Orographic and Forest effects. Water harvesting,
swales, ponds, dams and earthworks. Recycling and waste management.
Compost toilets, humanure, reed beds and aquaculture.
Soils.
Soil is the hidden monster that’s creeping up on all of us. We
have lost two-thirds of our topsoil and agricultural production is
dropping as we burn more forests to create more soil for monoculture.
We can build soil, enrich our lives, and create oil-free agriculture.
An introduction to composting, soil creation and bio-dynamics.
Background. Structure and pH. Vermiculture. Biological indicators.
Erosion and rehabilitation. Compost. No- till and sheet mulching,
Bio-dynamics.
Earthworking and Earth Resources.
Permaculture works on all natural scales and heavy equipment can
greatly accelerate positive effects on the landscape. Property
land-forming, dams, ponds and introduction to aquaculture, water-shed
management. Planning. Levels and contours. Keylines, dams and swales.
Equipment. Earth resources. Planting and reforestation.
Infrastructure placement and protection.
MODULE 4.
CLIMATE ZONES AND DESIGN STRATEGIES.
Precipitation, temperature, landscape features, water harvesting, shelter and design, gardens irrigation and animal systems.
The Humid tropics, wet tropics, wet-dry tropics, monsoon tropics.
Soil is least available in the tropics where most of the biomass is
above ground in the forest. We can create dense food forests and
water harvesting systems while protecting our home from natural
elements like storm surge, hurricanes, fire and flood. Natural cooling
systems and habitat design. Tropical soils. Earth shaping in the
tropics. Polycultures. Sea level rise.
Dryland strategies.
More of the world is becoming desert as forests are destroyed, rain
patterns change and animals scour the ground for food. Soon nothing is
left. We can apply simple principles to make the desert bloom again.
Humid-cool and cold climates.
Home heating and energy consumption are big issues in these climate
zones. Understanding some simple constants like the sun always shines
from the equator, will save you a lot of money in home heating. Habitat
design, food supply, water and soft energy principles including
attached greenhouse, passive solar hot water systems and co generating
woodstoves are explored.
The lawn. Grasslands. Soil compaction. Rangelands. Cold climates, snow
and ice. Fire protection. Alternative energy systems for heat and
cold. Solar Diversity and stability. Alternative building models and
techniques. Wood stoves and wood lots. Co-generation and heat transfer.
Mass ovens, clay and stone. Working with stone. Greenhouse
construction. Straw bale construction. Greenhouse gardening for food
and warmth.
MODULE 5.
AQUACULTURE, INVISIBLE STRUCTURES.
Aquaculture.
Water provides more than twenty times protein per acre than land fed
protein. Fish is a great unused resource and waste water gray water
systems relieve the burden on sewage systems and provide nutritious
water for your garden. The case for aquaculture. Dams, ponds,
Chinampas. Yield beyond the pond. Gray water and reed beds.
Polycultures.
Strategies for an Alternative Nation.
In this time of energy descent we will need to travel less and live
in closer commune with those around us. Food supplies will need
to be local as will all our basic services. How can we design robust
systems that integrate permaculture principles into the bio region and
beyond?
Ethical basis.
United Nations. Local government. Bioregionalism and community.
Extended families. Invisible structures. Trusts and legal strategies.
Eco villages. Currency and barter. Land access. Ethical investment.
Catastrophe preparedness and prevention. Food and water security.
Rising price of oil and energy. Farming for food security/market
gardening. Food storage strategies. Aspects of eco-village design.
Community. Invisible structures.
Where do we go From Here?
Planning for the future. Long term city planning Energy conservation.
Community education. Community communications, community radio.
Local government and feedback. Course feedback.
ends…