An Intensive Professional Permaculture Design Certificate and Learning Program
From Living Landscapes Eco Logical Design
Living Village, Eldorado, Ontario
with Trent Rhode and Guest Teachers
The Program
What is meant by “Eco Logical”?
The logic in nature is not always apparent, nor is it the linear, isolated and fragmented logic that dominates most existing human culture and its economic systems. Nature’s logic is a more holistic kind of logic that spirals through and weaves together an interdependent and interconnected chorus of creatures, plants and life. The eco logical way of seeing does not reject the power of reason and reductionism, or breaking things down into their constituent parts to examine them closely, but it necessitates simultaneously seeing parts of an ecosystem as they relate to the whole of which they are a part, and the way an element forms beneficial connections with other elements of the system.
For this program, the key principle that informs all others is the principle of protracted observation: the idea that when we observe something deeply, thoughtfully, and with our full attention, it changes not only our understanding of how we can interact with it in a positive, life conducive way, but also changes us at a fundamental level, shaping how we then perceive the world and interact with it. This leads to the underlying emphasis of this program: that we are part of the environment healing itself, rather than a foreign entity imposing its will upon the land.
Program Outline coming soon…
What is Permaculture?
“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children.” – Bill Mollison, cofounder of the the Permaculture Design system
Permaculture in its simplest definition means “permanent culture”: a culture that is not only sustainable, but regenerative (repairs existing ecosystem damage), since at this point in time, it is no longer enough to just sustain our existing systems. There have been many cultures throughout human history that meet this definition, including the many original peoples of North America.
Permaculture Design is a design system encompassing and building on a specific set of ecological principle-based approaches for consciously and creatively designing regenerative systems that meet human and environmental needs. At the heart of the modern permaculture movement is the understanding that we must redesign and repair our life support systems (economic, social and ecological) to be life-conducive rather than life-destructive.
Although permaculture began as a system for integrating home scale agriculture with one’s immediate surroundings on a homestead level, it has evolved into a design system for designing all aspects of human activity, from small and large scale agriculture, to architecture, learning environments, community design, and even economic and social systems design.
The roots of permaculture design lie in indigenous land use systems dating back untold thousands of years, some of which are still being practiced in an unbroken lineage to the modern day (though increasingly rare).