Here’s a list of 14 things to do after a Permaculture Design Certification Course. This list came to me from Geoff Lawton of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia, and Christian Shearer of the Panya Project and I added to it at the January 2009 PDC at the Panya Project.

1. Start at your own back door! Design and Implement!
2. Create or join a local permaculture guild.
3. Travel to other permaculture sites. (UK Permaculture database; PRI projects; Permaculture Activist Directory)
4. Take another PDC or focused course.
5. Volunteer or work in a related field.
6. Give intro talks about permaculture to groups in your area.
7. Practice making designs.
8. Host a course taught by someone else.
9. Apprentice or intern with an experienced designer or teacher.
10. Start a locally impacting enterprise.
11. Do a Diploma of Applied Permaculture Design (more info coming soon!).
12. Get an accredited permaculture degree through Gaia University.
13. Eventually become a permaculture contsultant or teacher.
14. Register as a Tagari-certified teacher.

Would you like to add to this list? Or reorganize it? Go for it the comments!

“Hi Ethan,
I’m doing a research project at Umass for my climatic change class. I want to do a case study of some different permaculture sites that are using permaculture to deal with and adapt to changes in the climate. My professor is skeptical and I really want to knock his socks off with my project. Do you know of any good sites/projects I could research? Also know of any good resources for finding more info on these projects?”

In Australia, look for Crystal Waters Ecovillage. And Melliodora on www.holmgren.com.au – one of the best-documented permaculture sites in the world.

And, Murrnong: A Permaculture Subdivision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOW-RdCFax0
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOW-RdCFax0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]

And look for Village Homes in California — best example of a permaculture development — there are several books about it.

Good luck!
Ethan

Yeehaw! More AppleSeed Permaculture students rocking out in the world. The Common Sense Regeneration Project, here is emerging from Eden Vardy, who took the Permaculture Design Course with me in Thailand (same course as Hugo, blogged below!) and is now an associate at Gaia University.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWj7R4u4Ptw&hl=en&fs=1]

Thanks to KrisCan for putting this video together! View more interviews here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kriscanshow&view=videos

“The number one cause of environmental damage on the planet is Fiat Currency.” – Catherine Fitts

What? Huh? What is Fiat Currency? I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.

Catherine Fitts just introduced the Finance Team – a humble and experienced team of attorneys, financial advisors, precious metal dealers, and more. Here’s a very quick and incomplete overview of some of the team and some of their resources:

Franklin Sanders – precious metals
• http://the-moneychanger.com/

Phil Cubeta
• http://www.gifthub.org: how can we get our society and economy working for us?
(also look for the slightly more colorful Wealth Bondage archives…)

Anais Star
Operations Manager at Solari


Jason Eaton
Financial Advisor and calculated risk taker

Lunchtime at the Financial Permaculture Course. Catherine Fitts of Solari explains,

“I’ve been waiting for 57 years for this… I moved to a small town in TN, because it is small towns like this that will be able to decentralize and sustain themselves. This is the first time in my life that all the right people in all the right positions of influence are in the same room — we don’t know all the answers, but we’re here, and we’re going to figure them out together.

Andy Langford, Co-founder of Gaia University and Long-standing permaculture designer, sums up the potential power of this event:

“We’re about to come to something. The people who have been doing sustainability projects for the last 40 years are now going to be able to go to the finance folks with their projects and all the sudden we see that we can make a very substantial difference very fast.“