Permaculture Practicum: Principles & Practices
"What Permaculturalists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet"
~Dr. David Suzuki
The word permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison and David in the mid-1970's to describe an integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating species useful to humans.
A more current definition of permaculture, is 'Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which they organize themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture. 
This two-part evening series teaches the skills necessary to become confident in basic Permaculture Principles and Practices. Between time in the nature and classroom you will learn how make a wide variety of nature practices. Learn how to identify and see patterns of sustainability on our nature~earth walks.
"You can fix all the world's problems, in a garden. You can solve them all in a garden. You can solve all your pollution problems, and all your supply line needs in a garden. And most people today actually don't know that, and that makes most people very insecure."
~Geoff Lawton, Permaculture Designer and Teacher
At the end of the series, you will have the beginnings of seeing how to become part of the change by becoming part of the solution. as well as the knowledge to expand it on their own. The curriculum will focus on the following areas:
Permaculture Principles: The Essence of Permaculture
We will explore the ethics and 12 design principles behind the diversity and creativity of permaculture.
Sustainability through Permaculture: Learn how to create sustainable, productive, and beautiful human environments using natural ecosystems as models. Permaculture is an evolving and expanding design system for ecological living, integrating plants, people, and planetary communities.
The Vision: Even Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are taught to leave a campsite in better shape than how they found it. As a culture, just imagine if every generation left their part of the world in better shape then when they found it.
Sustainable landscapes are life filled places that not only provide food for humans, they are habitats for wildlife, carbon sequestering, biodiversity, natural soil building gardens of fruit, berries and nuts, perennial and annual vegetables and herbs. These many-layered gardens are beautiful, resilient and self-renewing. With the emphasis on the whole system as an interrelated organism, interconnectedness is the key to a healthy, dynamic garden. Let nature be the model we use to design landscape. The vision is to maintain the benefits of a natural ecosystem while increasing the amount of food produced aiming towards sustainability, productivity and low maintenance.
Is It Possible? This is not hard to do. This series will make that perfectly clear. We can create a culture and a way of living on this planet that is bountiful rather than consumptive, that creates healthy soil, water and air instead of pollution, that creates beauty everywhere.
We can live in abundance while still improving the planet for future generations. That is what the primary focus is of this series. How do we learn to observe what is truly going on? How do we use the natural abundance that surround us to provide our needs? How do we do it in such a way as to create no pollution or waste? We can create abundance, beauty and healthfulness everywhere on the planet and for everyone. It all comes down to desire and design.
"It is time for all of us to make changes about how we live our lives and to follow a path of the heart. By following our intuition and inspiration we encourage our own acts of heartfelt genius and boldness. This makes us feel alive and vital, gives us a great purpose and harnesses parts of ourselves we may have neglected or didn't even know we had. We no longer feel overwhelmed by the way the Earth's resources are managed, but recognize that change is in our hands, yours and mine, the hands of extraordinary people who have made a leap of understanding and are determined to make a difference. We become part of the change by becoming part of the solution."
~Glennie Kindred ‘Earth Wisdom'
An article written by one of our students and her experience
The Living Centre: Permaculture in Canada
Permaculture Principles

"Permaculture is defined as consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber and energy for the provision of local needs…more precisely I see Permaculture as the use of systems thinking and design principles that provide the organizing framework for implementing the above vision."
~"
David Holmgren ‘Pathways to Sustainability' 2004
7 three-hour sessions
Thursday evenings,
Time - 6:30 - 9:30pm
Cost $250
The 12 permaculture design principles are thinking tools, that when used together, allow us to creatively re-design our environment and our behavior in a world of less energy and resources. Each principle can be thought of as a door that opens into whole systems thinking, providing a different perspective that can be understood at varying levels of depth and application.
A Permaculture Forest Garden is an integrated perennial polyculture of multipurpose species that mimic the structure and function of a natural forest ecosystem. The principles of permaculture are being implemented to design and establish a sustainable garden. To create a low input, high output system that benefits and the environment, providing a great range of products.
This series is being offered to be inspiring and filled with practical information on the vision, ecology, design, and stewardship of perennial polycultures of multipurpose plants in small-scale settings.
Permaculture Practices

"Is it all worth it? If we do our best to heal the Earth and make our place in her a sustainable one, is there a good chance that we will succeed?…to my mind that's the wrong question. Even if we could answer it – and we can never know anything about the future for certain, it would beg the question How do I want to live my life? So my answer to the question..is that I want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem".
~Patrick Whitefield 'Earth Care Manual'
7 three-hour sessions
Thursday evenings,
Time - 6:30 - 9:30pm
Cost $250
This is a educational experience both a 'hands-on' training as well as deepening the theory. About 50% of the time will be spent in the classroom covering the permaculture design principles and sharing example after example of how these are applied. There will be time spent outside exploring patterns and features of the landscape as well as some actual permaculture design work. Each student will be involved in the brainstorming of several permaculture designs as well as working on their own project. 
The goal of this training is for you to come away with a new pair of permaculture eyes. A pair of eyes that can see an abundance of opportunities in any urban or suburban landscape or setting.
Basic Training Outline
Stage 1: Foundations of Permaculture
Stage 2: Our Permaculture Gardens
Stage 3: Our Permaculture Homes
Stage 4: Recreating Ourselves and Our Communities
Who can Benefit from Permaculture?
This weekly series was designed to make available to the everyday suburban or urban dweller a solid understanding of permaculture design and techniques so that they can implement this life enhancing knowledge to their immediate and local surroundings.
By the end of this training, you will possess the following knowledge and skills:
What you will Learn: Permaculture Theory

- Embracing the Soil Community
- Principles of Pruning and Tree Health
- Guild Assemblies
- Elements of Cultivated Ecologies
- Modifying Sunlight and Capturing Solar Gain
- Raising & Preserving much of one's food
- Techniques for Dramatically Reducing Energy Use
- Beautiful, Functional and Edible Landscape Design
- Garden Designs that Increase Production
- What is at the Heart of Creating a 'Permanent-Culture'
Hands–on-Learning
Practical Permaculture Experience

- Building Soil Fertility
- Observation and Landscape Analysis
- Plant Identification recognizing Plant families
- Hands-on Pruning Practices
- Harvesting the Surrounding Abundance
- Exercise in Sheet Mulch Bed Preparation
- Tools and their Energy Implications
- Garden Design, Establishment, and Methods
- Short Design Exercise in Creativity
The Weekly Flow
Practical Permaculture is offered as an evening series or take the two part series as a complete training course.
Recommended Reading
• How to Make a Forest Garden ~Patrick Whitefield
• Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture ~Toby Hemenway
• Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape ~Robert A. De J. Hart
• Edible Forest Gardens: Volume One: Vision & Theory ~Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeir
• Edible Forest Gardens: Volume Two: Design & Practice ~Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeir
Certificate
A Certificate of Completion will be issued upon completing the two-part series training.
"Eden was a garden, not a farm." ~Toby Hemenway
Shantree is an Ayurvedic Live-Food Nutritionist, Therapeutic & Shamanic Herbalist, and Constitutional Iridologist Educator with 35 years experience in the Natural Healing Arts. He is the founder and co-director of The Living Centre (1983), and Living Arts Institute.
Shantree received his doctorate in Nutritional Medicine and Herbalism in the 70's. Since then he has been
exploring the effect of food and herbs on one's physical, mental & emotional health. His passion and study has lead him to explore the benefits of a high energy Ayurvedic live-food approach to nutrition. He has had the honor to teach, counsel and empower thousands of individuals on their health and educational journey.
Since the mid 1980's Shantree has been applying permaculture practices. Creating his own unique approach to how does Permaculture work in Canada. After 25 years he is now sharing his experiences with his students and apprentices who come to study Forest Gardening and Permaculture.
Facilitator Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
Dates for Permaculture: Principles & Practices

Permaculture Principles
7 three-hour sessions
Thursday evenings,
Time - 6:30 - 9:30pm
Cost $250
Permaculture Practices
7 three-hour sessions
Thursday evenings,
Time - 6:30 - 9:30pm
Cost $250
For information about the Visionary Herbalism Educator Course click here
"Permaculture is revolution disguised as organic gardening."
~
Graham Burnett ‘Permaculture: A Beginners Guide'
Register for Permaculture Practicum: Principles & Practices
Includes: workshop, educational material.
Transportation, tax and accommodation are not included in the pricing.
Companion Pricing: Bring a friend and save $25.
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The Living Centre,
5871 Bells Rd., London, ON. Canada, N6P 1P3
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