Permaculture Design Certification Course
LOCATION
Valle Escondido: Hidden Valley Farm, Monteverde Costa Rica
DESCRIPTION
Join our diverse team of permaculture instructors led by Scott Gallant and Hugo Soto for this 2-week experience.
DECOLONIZING THE PDC
We recognize the need to decolonize the permaculture framework and educational system. This course is an effort to increase diversity in our enrolled students by making the course more affordable and accessible. We are doing this by maximizing the optionality of the course by allowing students to use their own lodging and manage their own food, by subsidizing instructor fees with our other design work, and by working with a host organization, Valle Escondido, that is not charging for the use of their space, services and teaching.
This unique course is offered through submitting an application. The course fee is $400; this does not include lodging or food. This price covers instruction, materials, and facilities. Students are encouraged to find their own lodging in the Monteverde area and provide their own meals. Depending on enrollment, scholarships will be available for native-born Costa Ricans. All course participants will receive discounted farm produce and eggs, discounted onsite restaurant menu items, use of a communal kitchen for dinner, high speed internet and access to Valle Escondido’s nature reserve trails, waterfalls and platforms.
THE COURSE
The course covers the core Permaculture Design curriculum and emphasizes creating diverse multi-functional human landscapes based on ecological patterns. Utilizing Valle Escondido: Hidden Valley Farm as a living classroom, the class will mix lectures and hands-on work, exploring design solutions for the challenges that face our communities today. Putting Permaculture into practice, the course concludes with students working in teams to create their own permaculture site design. This course is applicable to anyone with an interest in designing resilient and regenerative futures as well as professionals in the fields of architecture, planning, ecology, education, farming and community development. The whole-systems design thinking outlined in the course will give participants the tools to re-design and improve their surroundings; from gardens, farms and homes, to livelihoods, relationships and communities.
TOPICS:
History of Permaculture
Principles and Ethics of Permaculture Design
Design Methodologies and Site Analysis & Assessment
Pattern Languages in Culture and the Landscape
Reading the Landscape and Pattern Recognition
Simple Mapping and Surveying Techniques
Client Interviews and Goal Setting
Master Planning and Design Presentations
Climate and Microclimate Design
Water: Cycles, Catchment, Ecology, Conservation, Treatment
Greywater and Blackwater Systems
Earthworks, Pond Construction, & Water Storage
Soils: Biology, Ecology, Fertility Strategies
Biochar, Biofertilizers, Mulching, Biomass Production, Microorganisms Cultivation, Compost Making
Gardening from the Tropics to the Temperate Regions
Orchard Management and Agroforestry
Plant Propagation and Nursery Management
Silvopasture and Aquaculture Systems
Fermentation, Post Harvest Handling, and Harvest Strategies
Shelter and Siting
Urban and Suburban Permaculture Applications and Case Studies
Designing for Climate Change
Energy and Appropriate Technology: Photovoltaics, Biodigestor Design, Alternative Cooking Models
Regenerative Economic Models
Social Structures, Decision Making, and Community Organizing
Professional Designer Project Case Studies
PROJECT DESIGN
Design is at the heart of permaculture and consequently we strive to put students in as many design scenarios as possible. In addition to smaller design charettes, challenges and mini projects, students will spend extensive time on a large group design projects. Groups of four to six students are given a piece of land in the community and a client; they are expected to create a base map of the property, complete a site analysis and assessment, interview the client, and create a design that is presented as a capstone project at the end of the two weeks. Approximately a quarter of the course will be devoted to this project.
We will be making attempts at working in the community of Monteverde to have real clients for student groups.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will:
Understand existing global patterns of agriculture, economics, development, etc. ; and how permaculture design creates a paradigm shift toward new patterns.
Show an understanding of permaculture ethics and principles and how to use them as a framework to govern, guide and support design decisions.
Gain an understanding of ecology and its process; specifically focused on soil, water, plants, animals, and microorganisms.
Use this understanding to interpret natural patterns and use them as models for designing sustainable systems.
Learn and practice how to approach design problems through site analysis, client interviews, mapping, drafting, etc.
Demonstrate simple land based surveying techniques
Demonstrate simple mapping and drafting techniques
Learn how to identify broad landscape patterns and details and how they relate (scale, order, etc.) and create a context for design work.
Learn and practice design methodologies and processes such as observation, pattern recognition and application, the scale of permanence, etc.
Be able to analyze landscapes across climates for successful human settlements.
Be inspired about their ability to create change where they live.
OUR PERMACULTURE COMMUNITY
Our goal as instructors is to support all of our students post-course. This has taken many forms in the past, including helping sourcing materials, introductions to specific organizations/people, sharing available job opportunities, and such. One of the great advantages of taking a course with Porvenir Design is that you become part of our larger community. We pride ourselves on being connected with the permaculture community, while acting as a bridge between the immigrant and Costa Rican permaculture world here in Costa Rica. The opportunity to plug into that is an invaluable part of our PDC.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS PDC?
There are many permaculture design courses offered around the world but you are good fit for our PDC if:
You want to learn from instructors who have many years experience teaching and put permaculture into practice daily through their own gardens, kitchens, communities and habits..
You want to experience an establishing permaculture site, largely designed to connect permaculture and food systems with hospitality and tourism.
You want to be inspired by seeing many working examples of highly functional systems that were guided by permaculture principles and ethics.
You want to be immersed in the famous cloud forest of Monteverde, with access to kilometers of hiking trails and a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.
You are prepared for an intensive learning experience. As a theory/survey course there is a significant amount of lecture and discussion daily.
You want to be part of a diverse group of students, in a course that is focused on connecting with Costa Rica and its culture.
LANGUAGE
The course will be taught in English and simultaneously translated in Spanish. All of the instructor team are able to facilitate in both languages as needed.
THE SITE: VALLE ESCONDIDO
Valle Escondido is a living playground of sustainable design and natural experience. Offering different examples of regenerative systems and techniques that reduce human impact and support natural environments, visitors leave Valle Escondido inspired to support a healthier world. On-site projects include land stewardship (15-hectare Valle Escondido nature reserve), agroforestry, aquaculture, animal husbandry, greywater management, soil building, biofertilizers, microorganism cultivation, and more. Valle Escondido presents these projects in a simple accessible way to reach the broad international audience of guests that visit. Recognized as a family-friendly hotel, providing these examples to raise awareness for both children and adults is part of the mission. In Monteverde where the weather can be very extreme, Valle Escondido creates and experiments with low technology design systems to identify pathways of food security and sustainable design now necessary in facing global climate change. To date, Valle Escondido has, in-person, introduced over 40,000 travelers to the method of permaculture and regenerative systems in its ongoing effort to use tourism to broadcast for a better world.
LEAD INSTRUCTORS
Scott Gallant
Scott Gallant is an agroforestor and food system designer with nearly a decade of experience working in Central America. He is the co-founder of Porvenir Design, a landscape design firm specializing in productive landscapes. He graduated from Wabash College in 2008 with a degree in Economics. He was the farm manager at Rancho Mastatal for nine years, and has worked with diverse projects such as VersaLand, Open Source Ecology, Project Bonafide, Finca Luna Nueva; and many more as he has developed his skill-set in permaculture design.
Passionate about regenerative agriculture, holistic thinking, ethnobotany, community development, and re-skilling, he still makes time to hike and bike, read exhaustively, and work on his basketball jump shot and frisbee throw. He has traveled extensively in Latin America, leading to a love of the culture, food, and language, which he attempts to speak. Scott writes for the Permaculture Research Institute and has been featured on the Permaculture Voices , Abundant Edge, and Making Permaculture Stronger podcasts.
You can find him on instagram here.
Hugo Soto
Hugo started down the permaculture path in 2012; Hugo’s study of organic agriculture led him to continue to deepen his ways of relating to people and the place. A native of San Jose, Costa Rica, Hugo began by promoting urban permaculture through projects such as community gardens and creating edible spaces featuring native plants. While developing communal gardening projects Hugo also focuses on leading workshops and courses within communities to shift to better soil management and production strategies.
Hugo compliments his passion for design by tying communal design for living well into his approach to planning; he has been trained in working with several forms of design for invisible social structures. Hugo is a member of the Red Permanezca, which seeks to creatively promote permaculture in Costa Rica with the end goal of inspiring deep societal change. Hugo’s goals include promoting permaculture through education and site visits, having time to swim and hike in the mountains while living in a collaborative eco-community.
Additional Instructors
Jonah Chaffee: Founder of Valle Escondido
Jonah is ecological educator, nurse, and landscape designer. He has worked for years in community health education, as Waldorf Kindergarten teacher, and in alternative medicine. He currently manages Valle Escondido in Monteverde Costa Rica. Introduced to the permaculture design method 12 years ago, he has studied with the Permaculture Institute and participated in different courses in North and Central America. Jonah guides Valle Escondido, as a tourist destination, to promote conservation of natural environments and sustainable practices to support a regenerative future. Valle Escondido offers classes and provides examples for visitors to better understand regenerative land use, organic farming and permaculture. When Jonah is not playing in the garden with his two daughters or talking to visitors you may find him surfing or exploring elsewhere in Costa Rica.
Jorge Salazar: Founder of La Iguana Chocolate and course translator.
Jorge is a practicing agroforester and the founder and owner of La Iguana Chocolate in Mastatal, Costa Rica. His wife Vicky Chandler and the whole Salazar family have been perfecting some of the most desired chocolate recipes in all of Costa Rica. Jorge has translated over a dozen Permaculture Design Courses.
The course may include additional instructors or local site visits depending on enrollment and up-to-date COVID restrictions.
COST, APPLICATION PROCESS, AND PAYMENT
The course cost is $400. This price does NOT include food or lodging, with the exception of two dinners, at the start and end of the course. Additional scholarships are available for Central American students to reduce this cost further.
The course is limited to 25 students and is offered through an application process.
Accepted applicants will need to deposit 50% of the course fee to reserve space. By June 11th, two weeks before the course start, the remaining 50% will need to be paid. Cancellations will be completely refunded if made before May 25th. After May 25th refunds will depend on course reservations.
LODGING AND FOOD OPTIONS IN MONTEVERDE
Monteverde has many different lodging and food options, including hotels, Airbnb, and local 2-week rentals and camping. Course participants are encouraged to work together to collaborate in finding affordable lodging and meal options. All course participants receive discounted farm produce, eggs and onsite restaurant menu options.
Valle Escondido’s lodging packages include 16-night dormitory accommodation with breakfast for $30 per person per night. Double or triple room occupancy for $50 per person per night or single room occupancy for 30% off standard hotel rate. Meal options include pre-planned lunch menu for 10$ per person per meal and discounted restaurant menu. A shared student kitchen will be available for daily use from 5pm to 8 pm, including cooked rice and beans for a one time fee of $30.
ENROLLMENT
For more information contact: WhatsApp (+506 8570 3668) or e-mail reservations@monteverdeinncr.com
