Past courses >>
Permaculture Design 09
7th - 19th September 2009
Coed Hills Full 10-day Residential Permaculture Design Course with Michele Fitzimmons from www.ediblelandscaping.co.uk.
Classic permaculture course following the syllabus recognised by Permaculture Institutes and Associations worldwide, including the Permaculture Association. On successful completion of the course participants are awarded the Certificate of Permaculture Design and are able to practice as Permaculture Designers.
The course will include:
• Permaculture Ethics and Principles
• Relative Location
• Spatial Zoning
• Forest Gardening techniques
• Alternative sources of energy including Micro-Hydro
• Permaculture Mind tools
• Secrets of the Soil
• Food Fundamentals
• Integrated Pest Management
• Eco lifestyles & Economics
• Sustainable building techniques including straw bale/cob
• Design Principles
• Energy Cycling
• Alternative cooking methods
• Practical Permaculture techniques
There will be excursions to other Permaculture projects in the area including the award-winning Edible Landscaping Garden in Dnys Powys.
Guest lectures include:
• Micro-hydro generation by Richard Drover
• WET Wetland Ecosystem Treatment (as featured on BBC Radio 4’s The Archers) with “Tree-bog” Jay of Biologic design (See www.biologicdesign.co.uk for more info)
• Forest Gardening, Grow Sheffield and the Abundance Project with Stephen Watts (see www.growsheffield.com for more info)
• An introduction to the Transition Town concept with Dinky Kennedy
• Introduction to Beekeeping and it’s importance within the natural eco-system with Charly Le Marchant
The last few days of the course will be focused on Design Methods. Participants will then create a Permaculture design of their own using all of the design tools and information learnt during the course.
Permaculture
Permaculture (Permanent Agriculture/Culture) is a design system for creating sustainable human habitats. The aim is to create systems that are ecologically sound and economically viable which provide for their own needs, do not exploit or pollute, and are therefore sustainable in the long term while rapidly being able to regenerate degraded systems.
Based on the observation of natural systems, the wisdom contained in traditional farming (and other social) systems, and modern scientific knowledge although based on ecological models, permaculture creates a cultivated ecology which is designed to produce more human and animal food than is generally found in nature.
The course will empower you to develop an integrated design strategy that uses principles of design and a series of techniques to create systems and lifestyles that have a long-term benefit to the environment and it’s inhabitants.
The ethics of Permaculture
These can be surmised as Earthcare, Peoplecare and Fairshares.
Earth Care - Learning the ways of the earth - it’s soil, plants and patterns, so that we can work in harmony for it’s best interest.
People Care – Nurturing self, kin and community. Designing systems that work for people and provide for their material, social, emotional and spiritual needs.
Fairshares - Living simply, so that others may simply live. Co-existing and community living, maximising on resources and sharing skills.
Michele Fitzimmons developed her business Edible Landscaping shortly after completing her Permaculture Diploma in 1992. Since then she has worked as a designer and consultant for many different projects. These include integrated farm designs, school wildlife gardens, community gardens and household kitchen gardens. Her most recent project, Eat, Shoots and Leaves, is the first Permaculture based garden to be featured at the Royal Horticultural Spring Flower Show in Cardiff this April (17th-19th). With this she is taking Permaculture ethics and techniques to a wider audience at a time when it seems many are looking for solutions to 21st century pollution and food scarcity.
For more information see www.ediblelandscaping.co.uk.
Coed Hills Rural Artspace
Coed Hills Visitor Centre is situated in the picturesque Vale of Glamorgan, just 8 miles west of Cardiff. In an area packed with ancient history and breathtaking beaches, Coed (pronounced 'coyd’, a Welsh word meaning "wood") could change the way you view the world.
Starting life as an artist community a little over 10 years ago, sustainability and Permaculture have become central to the shape of the community and it’s plans for the future. We try to live as lightly on the earth as is possible. The whole site is run on alternative energy from the sun and the wind, having both photovoltaic and thermal solar panels and wind turbines.
Residents and volunteers live in railway carriages, Mongolian Yurts, log cabins, tipis and straw bailed buildings. Food is a mostly communal affair and all organic. In the summer and autumn the vegetables and salad on your plate will almost all come from the gardens. In the spring we make use of the many wild foods that we find in the hedges and woods.
Site facilities include compost toilets, solar shower, biomass heated underfloor heated gallery and bathroom, a Wetland Ecosystem Treatment (WET), that works in a similar way to a reed bed but with much more biodiversity. We also have a 100 acre woodland, full size stone circle, sawmill, a forge, a very active green wood workshop with steambox, and a shire horse Brigan who is being trained to tow logs out of the forest.
Coed Hills hosts many events including our solstice and equinox festivals, the Triban Gathering (see www.triban.org), a monthly Temescal Sweatlodge , sustainable weddings, workshops, and much more.
PRICE £350 / £425 including all meals and camping.
To reserve your place please download this form and email to info@coedhills.co.uk.
For any further information please call Charly Le Marchant on 01446 774084 / 07768 881157 or email info@coedhills.co.uk.
