What Kinds of People Benefit from taking a Permaculture Course?

Prospective real estate buyers benefit greatly with Permaculture information to avoid the defects of problem parcels and spot hidden treasures and values.

Entrepreneurs can apply ecological models to the design, development, implementation, and management of sustainable business ventures.

Farmers can balance production systemically to create sustainable, low-input farms that are profitable, environmentally sound, and good for communities.

Students, Educators, and Professionals in the fields of ecology, agronomy, resource management, architecture, and planning can enliven their learning, courses, and work through the generalist, holistic, and interdisciplinary perceptions they gain from the course.

Community Development Workers, and Religious Leaders will discover cost-effective, practical, and creative applications that permit limited budgets to go further in providing services for community gardens, parish activities, housing, and more.

Real estate brokers, Developers, Local and Regional Planners, and Elected Officials will find Permaculture principles assist them in design and planning. By integrating sustainability into the total design process, entire communities benefit.

Gardeners, Homeowners, Renters, and Landlords benefit from the many ways they learn to improve the ecology of their homes and yards. Permaculture tactics save energy. These translate into savings of money, resources, and other assets.

Municipal, State, and Federal Staff and Managers can provide effective and efficient public works and service by using Permaculture principles. The community benefits because of their creative management techniques for land, air, and water resources.

Social Workers can acquire tools for empowerment and new place-based strategies for sharing knowledge about professional practices that facilitate micro- through macro-change processes.

Non-profits and Community Organizations can apply Permaculture ideas to their missions and programs. By integrating ecological design, professional networking, and social marketing approaches, objectives are advanced and goals reached.

Builders, Architects, and Construction Professionals save time, money, and materials by learning about the practicality of natural building systems as well as how to integrate land-use design into construction.

Landscape Architects and Garden Designers can maximize Permaculture principles by applying techniques of sustainable landscaping and emphasizing circular systemic functions such as rainwater harvesting.

Mandala gardens are minimum path gardens. This example is a thirty foot diameter layout. Things visited or harvested often are planted close to the path. Fruit trees and other seasonally harvested crops are planted furthest from the path. A nitrogen fixing farmer's tree is planted in the center which lightly shades the whole mandala. Six fruit trees are planted near the periphery. The paths are filled with organic matter which is turned into compost by worms. The crosshatched outer ring is a hedge producing fruits and nuts and acting as an animal barrier and wind break. This garden would feed at least four people.

When you are a farmer, or rancher...

you will gain; Permaculture is used for much more than structuring your land for sustainable, profitable production of crops and animals.

Building soil fertility while fully developing your water resources is just one of the practical skills you'll gain. You'll learn a host of techniques for eliminating the cost of most energy and material inputs for your operation. You'll also get ways to avoid hidden costs, reduce your workload, and make good use of whatever "waste" you produce. What's more, you can use the skills you already have to grow your own comfortable retirement crops that will mature in 10 to 20 years.

When you are a landowner or land manager...

you will discover many of the "hidden resources" in the landscape. Permaculture designs emphasize systems that are self-maintaining and self regulating. You'll never look at your land the same way again.

As a landscape designer or architect...

Permaculture will give you a major creative boost. Many of your customers want more from their landscape than screening or flowers. Designing earth forms, water and plant assemblies with both aesthetic AND functional considerations will give your designs a new vitality as well as being environmentally sound.

Edible landscaping is just scratching the surface. Imagine designing a subdivision that feeds the residents and exports surplus food, clean drinking water, and energy at a profit!

When you are an educator or a student, you can...

• Educate yourself & others to better heal the planet
• Run a community garden?
• Advise others on land use, farming or pest control
• Teach youth about science and the environment
• Work in sustainable development here or abroad.

As an environmentalist, you can gain insight...

Agriculture is more destructive to habitat than any other human activity including logging. If you want to save our planet, agriculture has to change. Productive areas within or near cities converted to food production can dramatically reduce habitat destruction in outlying regions.

As a learner, you can apply knowledge...

Permaculture can give you a framework to incorporate all your study and experience as well as techniques for teaching others in both rural and urban settings. Permaculture is extremely effective as a tool for education and change. The concepts of Permaculture have been designed from the ground up to be easily understood by anyone from a farm worker in a developing country through regional planners in the industrialized world.

When you are a regional planner, architect, builder or developer...

to reduce infrastructure costs, create urban farming opportunities, improve urban micro-climates, and reverse social polarization, land or town planners use the integration of ecosystem principles.

Architects and Builders learn how to integrate structures into the environment by modeling the energy and material flows after natural systems. Strategies are applied for reducing the physical and ecological footprints of buildings, including natural building materials, outdoor spaces that work, and natural systems of lighting, heating, cooling, water, and sewage.

Developers are often surprised to learn that properly designed agricultural development projects rival the profits from building subdivisions. The blending of agriculture and conventional development can produce profitable, beautiful, and environmentally acclaimed projects.