Table Of Contentearth user’s guide to
teaching
permaculture
Rosemary Morrow
Permanent Publications
Published by:
Permanent Publications
Hyden House Limited
The Sustainability Centre
East Meon
Hampshire
GU32 1HR
United Kingdom
Tel: 01730 823 311
Fax: 01730 823 322
Overseas: (international code +44 - 1730)
[email protected]
www.permanentpublications.co.uk
Print edition distributed in the USA by
Chelsea Green Publishing Company
PO Box 428, White River Junction, VT 05001
www.chelseagreen.com
First published 1997, fully revised and updated 2014
© 2014 Rosemary Morrow
Designed by
Two Plus George Limited
www.TwoPlusGeorge.co.uk
Cover design by
John Adams, drawings by Gabrielle Paananen
Illustrations by
Gabrielle Paananen
Index by
Amit Prasad, [email protected]
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
PRINT: ISBN 9781856231459
PDF: ISBN 9781856231466
EPUB: ISBN 9781856231473
MOBI: ISBN 9781856231480
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, rebound or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of Hyden House Limited.
Contents
Section 1: Section 5:
Introductions and starting well Increasing resilience and
productivity
Letter to teachers 2
Profile of adult learners 6 Unit 23 Site analysis 110
Acknowledgements 8 Unit 24 Design graphics and creative problem
solving 112
Unit 24 Incomes from acres 116
Section 2: Unit 26 Design for mitigating disasters 118
Introduction to permaculture Unit 27 Integrated pest management 122
Unit 28 Living with weeds 127
Unit 1 The first class – meeting each other 10
Unit 29 Aquaculture 130
Unit 2 Principles of ecology 13
Unit 30 Wild friends 136
Unit 3 Ethics, principles and characteristics 18
Unit 4 Design methods 25
Unit 5 Map reading 30
Section 6:
Social permaculture
Section 3:
Unit 31 Bioregions-collective self-sufficiency 140
Ecological themes Unit 32 Ethical money 142
Unit 33 Permaculture and ethical workplace/
Unit 6 Water and landscape 34
businesses 148
Unit 7 Rejuvenating soil 38
Unit 34 Land ownership 152
Unit 8 Designing with climate 44
Unit 35 Land ethics and access 154
Unit 9 Design with microclimates 47
Unit 36 Legal structures 156
Unit 10 Earthworks 49
Unit 37 Designing communities 158
Unit 11 Plants in permaculture 53
Unit 38 Transforming the suburbs 161
Unit 12 Forests 55
Unit 39 Designing cities 163
Unit 13 Windbreaks 57
Unit 40 Last day of the PDC 166
Section 4:
Designing productive ecosystems Appendix 1: Suggested Course Outline 168
Appendix 2: Timetable for Teaching Permaculture
Unit 14 Patterns in nature 62
Design Course 171
Unit 15 Zone 0: Siting, building and furnishing
Useful Resources 172
eco-homes 66
Index 174
Unit 16 Zone I: Home food gardens 72
Unit 17 Zone II: Orchards and food forests 79
Unit 18 Zone II: Food forests and small animals 84
Unit 19 Zone III: Cropping and large animals 89
Unit 20 Zone IV: Restorative forests 97
Unit 21 Zone V: Natural forests 101
Unit 22 World climate biozones 104
iii
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my committed, funny and
passionate nephew, Michael, who made all our lives
better and lived permaculture. Michael had a
profound love of all living and non-living Earth.
His miracle was Life.
SECTION 1
Introductions and starting well
Section 1: Introductions and starting well
Letter to teachers it seemed overwhelming. I suggest that we teachers
offer places for trainee teachers to learn.
This book will assist you to put together a set of
Dear permaculture teacher … teaching notes. After teaching permaculture for
In the 17 years since I wrote the first edition nearly ten years it took me another two years to
of this book the world has changed inconceiv- assemble and order this information and it will never
ably, and the speed and direction of change is be finished.
alarming. However the permaculture curriculum You will want to develop your own notes to suit
is still excellent and needs little alteration. the courses that you run. The basic syllabus does
not need to change. It is gift to us as teachers and to
the world. My teaching style and methods change
What students require from you
appropriately for different topics, as will yours.
The major outcome for students is their ability to Course notes have been produced by Robin
evaluate landscape and redesign it for a robust and Frances in Lismore, New South Wales, by Sky
resilient future. You need to get them to this point. formerly of Crystal Waters Queensland, and by
Your students will mirror your knowledge, attitudes teachers in other parts of the world. I encourage you
and skills when they finish their classes. to look at them. Robin Clayfield offers courses in
Teaching permaculture requires you to have: creative facilitation relevant to permaculture. Other
z Sound unbiased knowledge, clear teaching teachers have put their curriculum online.
goals, strategies and methods
z Clear understanding of the skills and attitudes
Can the PDC change?
students will be competent in by the end of
Although the ethics and principles of the PDC
your course
remain unchanged and enduring, the structure
If you don’t have clear teaching goals and student
and flow can change. I prefer to develop landscape
outcomes you won’t be able to monitor their
reading and analysis skills first as design begins
progress and your students won’t be competent
immediately with analysis, such as in map reading
permaculturists.
and sector analysis.
Start by telling students that they won’t be
The content and teaching methods, strategies and
spending much time getting their hands dirty. These
techniques in permaculture have been corroborated
‘bootcamp’ skills follow the Permaculture Design
as new information about the environment surfaces.
Course (PDC) and will occupy them for the rest of
The ethics and principles of permaculture stay
their lives. Instead, in your course, they will learn
constant, and now much of the content given in
to see, consider, analyse and design productive
early courses has been corroborated and extended
landscapes from balconies to large farms and towns.
by recent research and practice. For example, zone
Permaculture uses low technology and high science,
III now has principles and examples beyond Fukuoka
and the PDC always remains solidly based on these
and alley cropping, including pasture cropping,
tangibles.
contour forests and provides solid evidence for
cell grazing and pasture cropping which was not
Resources and opportunities for teachers
available for the first edition of this book. New cities
There is often little opportunity for professional
and city regeneration now have fine principles to
exchanges among teachers on their methods of
assist permaculture designers.
teaching, their presentation of material and quality
control of knowledge and skills. I speak of the ‘lone-
Who can teach?
liness of the Permaculture Design Teacher’ because
many of us seldom have opportunities to see how By permaculture tradition anyone who has a PDC
we can improve or change our teaching to be more can teach permaculture and use the word permac-
effective. We do not always know if we are teaching ulture which is invested in PDC graduates. Some
to a high standard, and how much we are ‘in sync’ institutes and organisations now desire diplomas
with other teachers. We all want to teach well to a and for graduates to wait two years before teaching.
good standard. Some of us have no teaching experi- I think it is better to start as quickly as possible to
ence; others have some experience in teaching but maintain enthusiasm, knowledge and motivation.
have not been very long in permaculture. Most are The two year rule simply doesn’t make sense
strong in some areas yet weak in others. Some would for some people who arrive extraordinarily well
like to teach but have not dared until now because equipped to start teaching, and for others where the
2
Letter to teachers
national need and demands is very great. They need themes and principles are well established.
another pathway.
The importance of permaculture teachers’
The adult learned centred approach ethics and principles
The difference between this book and other teachers ‘Central to permaculture are the three ethics: earth
notes is my emphasis on adult learners. I call this care, people care and fair shares. They form the
learner care based on Care of People and it entails foundation for permaculture design and are also
teaching permaculture based on the second permac- found in most traditional societies. Ethics are cultur-
ulture ethic. Being passionate about teaching adults, ally evolved mechanisms that regulate self-interest,
I use the most recent research on how adults learn giving us a better understanding of good and bad
and I find this approach not only ethical, but also outcomes. The greater the power of humans, the
extremely effective. more critical ethics become for long-term cultural
We don’t teach religion or psychology, only Care of and biological survival. Permaculture ethics are
People as best exemplified by our behaviour towards distilled from research into community ethics,
students and other: Treat them well and require learning from cultures that have existed in relative
them to treat each other well. balance with their environment for much longer
than more recent civilisations. This does not mean
The structure of these teaching notes that we should ignore the great teachings of modern
The choice is yours. You can work your way from times, but in the transition to a sustainable future,
the beginning to the end and you can follow my we need to consider values and concepts outside the
timetable (see Appendix). Or, you can draw up your current social norm.’
own timetable and then select the units to give David Holmgren
continuity and depth to your teaching. on permaculture ethics
The sequence you find in these notes is a result We teachers endeavour to live the three permac-
of teaching qualifications in Adult Education and ulture ethics. They become particularly important
especially in the field of Non-Formal Education when we are teaching permaculture. We know that
(NFE). It consists of sections assembled to give our students imbibe our behaviour and, consciously
continuity, breadth and depth. The sections are: or unconsciously, copy us. We are their models.
So I have tried to articulate teaching ethics for my
goals and behaviour. You can write your own. It is a
Sections Title Units
searching exercise and I show them to my students
so I am accountable to them for what they learn and
1 Introductions and Two essays:
how they are treated. They are further broken down
starting well Letter to teachers
into principles.
Profile of adult
I have a set of draft teaching objectives for the PDC.
learners
2 Beginning 1-5 Teachers’ ethics
permaculture z Facilitate ethical conduct and equitable
relationships – See Class agreements;
3 Ecological themes 6-13
z Foster commitment to meaningful
4 Designing productive 14-22
collaboration and reciprocal responsibility of
landscapes
all participants;
5 Increasing resilience 23-30 z Deliver clear complete, accurate permaculture
content and process with attention to the three
6 Social permaculture 31-39
ethics
Last PDC day 40
Teacher’s principles for learning
I have found it easier, although perhaps less Encourage, model and create a non-threatening
exciting for some students, to start by giving the learning environment through
whole class the same grounding in the applied z Active participation
sciences of the Principles, Ecology, Soils, Water, z Confidentiality and diligence
Energy, Plants and Forests. Then I develop the z Respect
design sections of the course when the concepts, z Trust and protection
3
Section 1: Introductions and starting well
z reciprocity and acknowledgement of Content summarizes the main points students
contributions and due credit. should know including, Ethics, Principles, and
Always demonstrate continual willingness to factual information.
evaluate your own understanding, actions, responsi- Student activities for students to do at home to
bilities and knowledge. reinforce their class learning and to acquire extra
skills. These support the learning objectives.
Teachers’ principles for earthcare content
Resources are the videos, places, people, and TV
z Reinforce local culture programmes and websites. The list indicates a few
z Give only relevant and accurate information possibilities, however you need to build your own
z Acknowledge and recognize prior suffering/ resource list – often specific to your bioregion.
injustices
You always need to know more than you teach.
z Apply environmentally and socially sound References consist of booklists, with the principal
principles
books for the unit listed first and then the extra
z Encourage information to be locally adapted reading. You should frequently up-date your
z Build on existing valuable knowledge and knowledge. Advances and additions to knowledge
practices
in areas such as renewable energies, LETS and
Environmental goals – Care of Earth financial systems, and recycling need to be kept
up to date.
z Autonomy in food, water and energy through
sustainable methods
z Small scale and long-term productive designs Teaching methods and tools
z Close the hunger gaps and periods of
If you are not experienced or have not thought how
insufficiency
adults learn differently from children, first read the
z Rejuvenate landscapes
article on Adult Learners as a background. Some
Social goals – Care of People highly trained teachers are not good teachers and
z Encourage active co-operation some people who are not formally trained are very
z Empower people to act gifted.
z Acquisition of useful peaceful skills The main principle in teaching methods is that
z Develop and extend local knowledge networks you vary your methods during a session to reach
and trust the different learning styles of your students. For
The units can be used many ways. For example, you example:
can select some to teach an Introductory Course. z Group Discussion
Each unit provides the essential skeletal z Lecture (always short)
information required for teachers and students. z Brainstorm
Each unit consists of five to eight pages and z Seminar
within each there is a format which consists of the z Field visit
following: Demonstration
This unit situates the importance and value in z Questioning
the whole course and how it links with other z Your ideas
units. The critical factor is that a variety of approaches is
Learning objectives given for key areas in the topic required to meet the needs of the people who learn
in which students need to be competent. They are in different ways (different learning styles). Teaching
reflected and reinforced in classroom activities methods, to be effective, must be learner-centred,
and student activities. not information delivery centred. When students
Graphics Students learn more from pictures than are actively participating you can be reasonably
words. Here are ideas for photos, slides, overhead confident that they are learning. It is more important
projection sheets, drawings, wikipedia graphs you that students are able to learn and make sense of
could use to improve learning. each unit (process and internalize) than you tell
Find line drawings to copy onto boards, to them everything that you know.
overhead projectors or to photocopy for your This guide to teaching permaculture has been
students according to your teaching method. designed as a handbook for the full 72 hour Permac-
Only a few drawings are provided since you are ulture course which gives students the international
encouraged to routinely research and develop qualification presently known as Permaculture
your own. Consultant’s Design Course certificate.
4
