Glacial Lakes Permaculture

 Learn permaculture design in beautiful southern Poland!

This Permaculture Design Course (PDC) covers the standard 72-hour curriculum developed by Bill Mollison which is commonly taught all over the world, but will include extra information tailored to colder climates, as well as practical, hands-on components to spur active learning about permaculture processes and design. The PDC will run 12 full days, starting on the morning of Monday, August 6, 2012 and ending in the afternoon of Saturday, August 18, 2012. The course is taught in English. Come learn how to apply permaculture to your home, farm, and life whilst enjoying beautiful southern Poland!

Topics will include:

• History, Principles and Ethics of Permaculture
• Permaculture Design
• Whole farm design and planning
• Climate and Weather
• Patterns in Nature and in Design
• Trees, forests, and windbreaks
• Water harvesting, storage, recycling
• Ecosystems, landscapes and soils
• Earthworking
• Permaculture in Differing Climates
• Aquaculture
• Social Permaculture
• Orchards and forest gardens
• Animals in permaculture design
• Sustainable building design
• And much more….

The Course Venue

This PDC is offered in collaboration with the Ecocentre ICPPC at Sunflower Farm, the first fully-integrated small-scale ecological demonstration site in Poland. The site includes working examples of clay and straw buildings, organic food gardens, home-scale renewable energy, grey-water recycling systems, rainwater catchment systems, and a developing permaculture food forest. The ecocentre is located in Stryszów, Małopolska province, Poland, a village of 2,000 people, nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Carpathian Mountains.

The ecocentre, part of theInternational Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside (ICPPC) is run by Jadwiga Łopata, an award-winning environmentalist, activist, and social entrepreneur; the ecocentre itself was founded in the late 1990s by her son, Krzsztof (Chris). Jadwiga became an Ashoka Fellow in 1996, and in 2002 won the Goldman Prize for the Environment for all of Europe for her work in rural Poland with small family farmers and efforts to preserve the Polish small farm way of life. She was founder and first president of ECEAT-Poland, an organization established to assist small farms in Poland to become host locations for eco- and agri-tourism. Today, with her partner, Julian Rose, a well-known British organic farmer, writer, and activist, they continue their work to support and protect small farms and farmers in Poland.

Class sessions will be held on-site in the ecocentre’s clay and straw building classroom which is powered by the sun. Hands-on course sessions will give participants a chance to work on projects relevant to the ecocentre as a developing permaculture farm and demonstration site.

Course Tutor

An experienced permaculture teacher and designer, Karl J. Schmidt is founder of Glacial Lakes Permaculture, an organization and demonstration site dedicated to permaculture education, design, research, and consulting. Karl earned his first Permaculture Design Certificate in Australia from Bill Mollison, the co-founder of the worldwide permaculture movement, and Geoff Lawton, director of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. He has also done permaculture design training (including a second PDC) in Brazil with André Jaeger Soares and Lucy Legan at IPEC (Instituto de Permacultura e Ecovila do Cerrado). Karl has visited and studied most of the major permaculture design sites in Australia, and has many years of teaching, research and field experience, both within and outside academia. In addition to many talks, workshops, and public presentations on permaculture and related topics (such as Peak Oil and Transition), he has developed and teaches an annual All-Seasons Permaculture Design Course in South Dakota. He has guest-lectured on permaculture in the US, Australia, and Poland. Karl is a member of the Worldwide Permaculture Network and Transition United States. Karl has designed his own five-acre cold temperate climate permaculture site on the northern plains of the United States, and has worked with various clients on designs. Since 2007, he has been collaborating with the Ecocentre ICPPC in Poland on various educational experiences and projects, including the development of a small permaculture forest garden.

Booking/Reservation/More Information/Contact

The full Permaculture Design Course fee is US$1500 and includes instruction, local site visits, shared-room housing on-site (2-4 people per room), and meals (breakfast and dinner, plus tea/coffee and bread/cheese at lunch; local and healthy food—both ovo-lacto vegetarians and omnivores can easily be accommodated). A maximum of 16 students can be accommodated indoors. Two camping places are available on-site (four participants total). Students opting to camp can deduct 10% off the full course fee. Additional accommodation is available nearby. Up to 20 students can be accommodated in this course.

SPECIAL PRICE FOR STUDENTS FROM EASTERN EUROPE!

Citizens of the following countries will receive a special discounted price of US$800 for this PDC.  This price applies only to citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia.

To register, contact Glacial Lakes Permaculture.  A printable flyer is available in US 8.5x11, and in A4 size.

Accommodation will be at Potoczek, adjacent to the ICPPC Ecocentre.  You can view a YouTube video about Potoczek.