72-Hour Urban Permaculture Design Certificate Course With SVI Alum, Sara Dent & Erin Innes
In association with SOLEFood Farm

Course work + hands-on full growing season, organic gardening & urban farming techniques

Course Schedule:
Introductory Weekend April 8: 6-9pm, 9 & 10: 10am-5pm
10am-5pm: April 30, May 21, June 25, July 23, August 13, 27, September 24
Wrap Weekend October 21: 6-9pm, 22 & 23: 10am-5pm
Cost: $225 Introductory Weekend, $900 - $1,100 Full Course
Sliding Scale / Scholarships Potentially Available / Payment Plans Possible

Dive into the fundamentals of ecological design theory and practice and earn your internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate.  From growing food and creating healthy soil to building community capacity and re-visioning the urban environment, this 72-hour course will give you the skills and experience you need to live abundantly in our changing times and be a regenerative force for the planet and your community.

As a learning community, we will look at all aspects of urban gardening, from garden designing, plant propagation, composting, seed saving, to starting the winter garden and more.  We will study the design philosophy of permaculture and its application within an urban setting.  The DTES will be our classroom, from SOLEFood Farm, to Cottonwood Gardens and in between. Guest teachers will demo: bee keeping, aquaponics, backyard chickens, and more.

The permaculture topics this course will cover include:

• Permaculture Ethics & Principles
• Observation & Site Analysis
• Energy Conservation
• Natural Cycles & Pattern Recognition
• Mapping & Design Exercises
• Animal Husbandry
• Trees & Food Forests
• Soil Building & Ecology
• Plants, Propagation & Planting Strategies
• Eco-Building & Appropriate Technology
• Aquaculture, Water Harvesting, Management & Conservation
• Urban Permaculture & Social Ecology

What is PERMACULTURE?
Permaculture is the ancient art of studying Natures principles and applying her gardening techniques through systems design to human habitats.  In a natural ecological system there is no waste and no external inputs.  In cities, we have the opportunity to put these ideas into practice to create more sustainable living environments that are less dependent on fossil fuels for food production and energy.  The term permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison of the Australia Permaculture Research Institute (PRI). This course will follow Mollisons curriculum, with a focus on permaculture applications within an urban environment.

About the teachers:
Sara Dent is a trained organic farmer and Certified Permaculture Designer through the Linnaea Ecological Garden Programme (Cortes, BC), and Teacher with the Urban Permaculture Guild.  She has farmed across B.C. and in Mexico.  She brings her enthusiasm for organic matter and growing local, along with her training as an arts facilitator to permaculture education. http://saradent.ca or http://farmlove.org

Erin Innes is a Certified Permaculture Designer and a recognized Permaculture Teacher with the Urban Permaculture Guild. She has a long history in community activism and collective organizing, focusing on popular education and un-schooling. She is deeply involved in grassroots food justice work and founded the Farmhouse Farm Bike-Powered Urban Farm.  Erin currently sits on the Steering Committee for the Main Street Village of Village Vancouver Transition Initiative. http://passionatepermaculture.wordpress.com

Information / Registration: www.farmlove.org, Email: sara@farmlove.org, Phone: 778-968-5518