Prepare Plans for a Permaculture System
Permaculture design involves understanding all the elements of the landscape and how they relate to one another. This involves an appreciation of natural patterns, climatic factors, soil, water, trees and so forth. On top of this you need to be able to make suitable design choices through use of practical principles of design.
This course will teach students how different elements; organic, inorganic and social are interrelated and how lessons learnt from nature inform design. You will see how zonal planning can be used to preserve and sustain ecosystems and how plants and animals can live side by side in productive sites and gardens.
Completion of this course It will ultimately help you to prepare plans appropriate for particular environments and sites.
What this Course Covers
There are eight lessons in this course, as follows:
1. Permaculture Principles
2. Natural Systems
3. Zone and Sector Planning
4. Permaculture Techniques
5. Animals in Permaculture
6. Plants in Permaculture
7. Appropriate Technologies
8. Preparing a Plan
Workload
Study when, where and however much you want. For most students, the course can be completed with a total of around 100 hours of study; and a commitment close to that may be needed to achieve desired learning outcomes.
Extra Reading
The following books, available through this web site are relevant supplementary reading for this course
- Organic Gardening
- Poultry
- Fruit. Vegetables, Herbs
- Garden Design Part 1
Assessment
Self Assessment Tests are presented throughout the course. These are essentially an automated quiz. When you undertake a "SAT" or "Self Assessment Test", you will be able to see what you got correct, and what was incorrect; and in that way, you can identify your weaknesses.
Assignments are given at the end of each lesson. You should complete this assignment, paying careful attention to follow what is asked of you. It can be just as important to learn to work to specification, as it is to learn about the topic you are studying. Graduates who develop a habit of working to specification in the field of permaculture, will impress employers, and will be more efficient when self employed.
A Final Exam is offered upon satisfactory completion of all assignments. This is optional. If you choose to apply for and do this exam, you will have the possibility of obtaining a "formal credit" or "Pass Certification" for this course. A fee applies. The exam may be sat under prearranged conditions anywhere in the world. This college will award you a formal transcript, upon successful completion of the exam, as proof of your results.
Recognition and Ethics
This college is a member of the ACS Affiliates Network; a group of colleges from several countries, affiliated with each other through ACS Distance Education.. Courses are developed with input from all of these colleges, aspiring to reflect internationally accepted standards and needs.
A strict "No Plagiarism" and "No fraud" policy exists. Assignments are checked for plagiarism, and assignments will not be deemed to have been completed, if work is not your own original creation, and is found to have been copied from elsewhere. If the person doing the course is discovered to be different to the name enrolled, the enrolment and any results will be recorded as invalid and any fees paid will be forfeited.
Refund Policy
A full refund less expenses (up to 15% of fees applied) is provided to anyone wishing to withdraw from a course, within 2 weeks of enrolment. This does not apply after the first assignment has been submitted and marked; or after the two weeks has expired.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS INSTITUTION?
We believe that we have an ethical responsibility to make good use of the fees you pay and the time you invest into an education through our college. To this end, our first priority is always your learning. This comes before issues such as formal accreditations, speculative marketing and bureaucratic processes which all too often add considerable costs to the running of colleges, and take resources away from the provision of more valuable services to the student.
This college focuses on facilitating your learning and support to optimise that learning. We recognise that learning is all about improving knowledge and skills in your long term memory. While some colleges may focus on getting you to pass exams, by committing knowledge to short term memory; we understand that such an approach is not true education, and does little to improve your long term career or business prospects.
How This Course Could Help You
You could use knowledge gained from this course to develop your own property or to eventually work as a consultant in the field of permaculture. Those with some understanding of permaculture may wish to study this course in isolation. Those without prior knowledge may prefer to study Permaculture I first.
This course is suitable for anyone who wishes to extend their knowledge of permaculture or sustainable systems. It is particularly useful for landscape and permaculture designers.