For the last seven years this course has been full with a waiting list, so early registration is encouraged. To give a high-quality educational experience, we limit the size of the class to eighteen participants. Contact dorsey@dakotacom.net or (520) 624-8030 to register or for more information.
This course is one of the longest-running annual Permaculture courses in the U.S., and leads to a Permaculture design certificate. It covers all aspects of sustainable design with an emphasis on Southwest drylands, including a balance of hands-on experience, classroom time, and design practicum. Dynamic exercises encourage pattern recognition, noticing the links between plants and animals, climate, and landforms that make up natural ecosystems. These patterns are the basis for the Permaculture system of sustainable design.
The course focuses on dryland communities, addressing individual site and neighborhood “problems” such as stormwater flooding. Students learn to read the landscape, to map and analyze energies flowing through a site, and to develop integrated designs for sustainable systems. The weekend format of the course makes it easier for people who hold a weekday job to attend, and promotes better integration of the course material into daily life.
Course topics include: agroforestry, appropriate technology, building design, design principles and patterning, site analysis, dryland gardening principles, ecosystem restoration, philosophy and ethics of Permaculture, regenerative community economics, soils and erosion control, village and community design, water harvesting, and many other topics.
We take field trips to working Permaculture sites around Tucson, and you will have the chance throughout the course to design and begin implementing Permaculture on a site of your choosing. This course is challenging and fun, and it shows the whole big picture of sustainable design in Southwest Drylands and how sustainability and integrated design really work!
Site: The classroom will be in the Central Tucson area, and at other Permaculture sites in the Tucson area. Much of the class is held outdoors.
Taught and facilitated by Dan Dorsey, Brad Lancaster, Barbara Rose, and other teachers from the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, as well as professional guest instructors. For teacher profiles see the members link on the Sonoran Permaculture Guild website. To register and for more information contact Dan Dorsey, course registrar, at (520) 624-8030 or dorsey@dakotacom.net.