Original document: eng-2013-perma-intro.docx

Aim of the course

1. to introduce permaculture as the alternative to western “culture”
2. to encourage (mostly young) people to develop more authentic life designs, more adapted to post-capitalist economic & social reality
3. to pass on agricultural & horticultural permaculture techniques to people who are starting up collective gardens, CSA's, Eco villages
4. to share group experiences with people so they get the taste of open dynamic purposeful community life

Concept

1. Plukrijp functions on a “circles of interest” mode
2. we encounter each other on a free, non-sectarian base, where scarcity of money, shelter or information are transcended
3. Plukrijp facilitates this exchange
4. through membership fees & free donations the costs of the infrastructures are met
5. meals, lodging, administration, websites, mailing lists, travel expenses, are paid for from this “magic hat”
6. there is an open accountancy, members can participate in the decision making, yearly meetings & can call for extra meetings
7. for meetings we practice the “love-unity” method, incorporating many of the new communication techniques

Practical arrangements for the permaculture course 2013-2014

1. membership fee = € 50 or free donation
2. each member tries to come to the 7 weekends
3. costs for each weekend = € 50 or free donation
4. at the end each member gets a CD with the texts of the course
5. weekends from Saturday 10 a.m. till Sunday 5 p.m.
6. meals & lodging are included
7. no alcohol, drugs or violence in words or deeds please
8. be on time, forcing others to wait for you is not nice
9. communication=REDACTED

Weekend 1 : initiation weekend + garden practice

• the 3 principles of permaculture
• the flower of Holmgren, interactive exercise
• our wiki at permabook.brozkeff.net, an introduction to the wide implications of perma
• practice in the Plukrijp garden: a first visit to 15.000m² of 30+ years of perma

French 5 & 6/10/2013 – Dutch, English 12 & 13/10/2013

Weekend 2 : fertility + techniques in permaculture gardening (part 1) + practice

• soil life, compost, minerals
• a forest or a garden; how to feed 7 billion humans ?
• a short history of man's relationship to nature
• food yearround from the permaculture garden ? How ? Why ? Tools ?
• practical : synergy, resources, tools, techniques, systems in perma garden part 1

French 2 & 3/11/2013 – Dutch, English 9 & 10/11/2013

Weekend 3 : social dynamics + design your project (part 1)

• why/how groups ? + practical exercises

• situational authority, flexibility, dependance games often played in groups
• proximity vs exclusivity, a short history of the last 60 years
• value = alternative money systems
• the transition town movement
• practice = design your life project part 1

French 4 & 5/01/2014 – Dutch, English 11 & 12/01/2014

Weekend 4 : water + life design + design your project (part 2)

• water in the permaculture garden-field
• water as healing
• the science of water anno 2013
• fractals, spirals, waves : beyond the linear view
• life design, a systemic approach to YOUR life
• practice= design your project part 2

French 1 & 2/02/2014 – Dutch, English 8 & 9/02/2014

Weekend 5: design, tools, techniques in permaculture gardening (part 2) + practice

• design for gardens : tools, techniques, systematic approach in time & space
• tools : what you need + how to keep it working
• techniques : false seedbed, superficial cultivation, line seeding, mixed crops, edible cover crops, nursery plants, plant propagation, seed saving & exchange
• practice: create a warm bed for early planting

French 1 & 2/03/2014 – Dutch, English 8 & 9/03/2014

Weekend 6 : utopia, why not ? + design your village/town/community

• some more & less realistic utopias from past & present
• the story of debt, or the artificial creation of scarcity
• deep ecology, modern slavery, tribal solutions to live a meaningful good life
• practice = redesign your village, neighbourhood, household, town towards…

French 5 & 6/04/2014 – Dutch, English 12 & 13/04/2014

Weekend 7 : cycles in nature, life, cosmos + techniques in permaculture gardening

(part 3) + PARTY !!!

• in nature, the year, life, the cosmos
• ancient (forgotten) civilisation: fiction or reality ?
• practice = seeding, weed control, to mulch or not to mulch, that is the question, cover crops, combinations, ….
• practice = party

French 3 & 4/05/2014 – Dutch, English 10 & 11/05/2014

Keywords for the course

aerobic bacteria - co-creation – coherence - compost toilets – CSA – design - dry farming – durability - eco-villages - ecological footprint – ecosystems - edible crop cover - false seedbeds – flexibility – fluidity - food collective – give-away-shop - harmony - homeostatic dynamic balance - life design - low-impact – microbiology - microclimate - money alternatives – mulching – nomadism - paradigm change - peak everything – polytunnels – proximity - re-use/re-cycle/re-pair – resources – synergy – together – transition – value - water clusters - yin/yang