Advanced Permaculture
One Year Certificate Program
Advanced Permaculture (AP) is a one-year, (four-module) certificate course focused on understanding natural systems and cycles, learning tools of regenerative land stewardship, and developing a plan to implement restorative design practices. This course will bring you into a more comprehensive understanding of the land you live on, shepherding you through the process of designing a more resilient landscape.
Certificate Program
- Module one: WATER MANAGEMENT
- Module two: SITE PLANNING
- Module three: SOIL & ANIMALS
- Module four: FOOD FORESTS & FOREST ECOLOGY
Personal Growth
Modules two, three, and four can be taken individually for personal growth and education.
*To earn a certificate, students must complete all four modules, assigned homework, readings, and a comprehensive design.
Advanced Permaculture Modules
Module 1
Water Management
Feb. 1 – March 7
Module 2
Site Planning
March 14 – March 28
Module 3
Soil & Animals
Apr. 4 – May 9
Module 4
Food Forest & Forest Ecology
Sept. 12 – Oct. 17
Advanced Permaculture Certificate
FINDING HOPE IN RESILIENCE
Regenerative farmers are the new climate champions.
To prevent global catastrophe, we need to stop emitting carbon and draw carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere. The best way to do that is by preserving wild spaces, and implementing regenerative farming, ranching, and forestry practices. We need to grow vibrant living systems to sequester atmospheric carbon and create resilient systems to mitigate disasters such as fire, flood, and drought.
Permaculture design and regenerative agriculture are climate solutions, which need people like you, to grow the future.
This program will take you deeper into the tools and techniques of regenerative design!
THE OPPORTUNITY
Half the farmland in North America is due to change hands in the next two decades as farmers age out.
It is vital that the new stewards of that land know how to manage it in ways that contribute to global healing.
Two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050.
It is equally vital that city dwellers know what regenerative land stewardship looks like and promote regenerative policies and practices in their regions.
Our friends and families need a clean healthy world. The world needs allies and advocates for a regenerative future.
Are you concerned about climate change, ecosystem degradation, and climate justice– and want to make a positive difference?
Advance Permaculture is for you if:
- You earned a Permaculture Design Certificate or have practical Permaculture experience
- You have a deep love for the Earth and the natural world
- You want to expand your knowledge of permaculture and go deeper into some of the topics that interest you most
- You have land–even a backyard or urban garden–and want to learn how to make it thrive
- You hope to get land in the future and want the skills and tools to run a regenerative homestead, urban farm, ranch, or retreat space
- You want to learn solutions and hopeful approaches to some of our most dire problems
- You want to prepare for a career in the field of environmental sustainability
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
COURSE INFORMATION
- Location: Virtual
- Dates:
- WATER MANAGEMENT, Feb. 1 – Mar. 7
- SITE PLANNING, Mar.14 – 28
- SOIL & ANIMALS, Apr. 4 – May 9
- FOOD FOREST & FOREST ECOLOGY, Sept. 12 – Oct 17
- Timing: Thursday 6:00-8:00 pm PST
- Helpful Tool: Time Zone Converter
- Weekly 2-hour live sessions with recorded supporting material
- All live session are recorded and closed captioned.
- Access to resources, documentation, and recorded class content accessible via virtual classroom
- Recommended that students have earned a Permaculture Design Certificate before attending this course
Full Certificate
- Early Bird tuition: $1,120
- Sliding Scale tuition: $1250-$1600
- Payment plans: $100 at registration with 14 monthly payments of $100
- Alumni tuition: $350 to retake this course
- All amounts are in US dollars
Individual Modules
- Early Bird tuition: $320 / Module
- Module tuition: $350-$450
- Payment plans: $100 at registration with 3 monthly payments of $100
- Alumni tuition: $100 to retake this course
- All amounts are in US dollars
Scholarships & Discounts
We are dedicated to making our courses as accessible as possible by offering:
- Group discounts
- Diversity Scholarships
- More details below
Modules
Take all four modules for an Advanced Permaculture (AP) certificate.
Take modules individually for personal growth and to deepen your knowledge.
Module 1 – Water Management
COURSE WILL COVER:
WATER HARVESTING & LAND RESTORATION
- Water Harvesting, Water Cycles, Drought, and Flood Control. Learn the intricacies of how water moves in the landscape, and how human systems impact this movement. Delve into strategies for water harvesting and retention along with flood and drought mitigation.
- Water in the Landscape: Erosion Control and Stream Restoration. Learn about water remediation strategies in urban and rural systems. Explore techniques for healing degraded lands suffering from erosion, drought, and water pollution.
- Water Management Plans and Case Studies. Review case studies around water management and write your own water management plan.
Water Collection and Treatment
- Water Collection and Storage. Learn to design rainwater collection systems, including sizing, siting, and plumbing. Explore a wide range of water storage options and how to select which works best for a site.
- Treatment Strategies. Learn the basics of on-site wastewater treatment. We will review basic treatment strategies and go into detail about how to design and set up a treatment system.
- Remediate Toxins and Manage Humanure. Explore treatment strategies for polluted water through biological methods. Learn to safely manage humanure for pathogen removal and landscape use.
Module 2 – Site Planning
Course will cover:
SITE ANALYSIS & RESTORATIVE DESIGN
- Orientation, Ecoliteracy, and Citizen Science. Introduction to ecology, citizen science, and record keeping from a land restoration perspective along with indigenous approaches to land and cultural competency
- Holistic Goal-Setting and Design Principles. Practice holistic goal-setting and development plans. Learn how to write and design quality management plans.
- Mapping, Site Analysis, and Systems Theory. Learn the needs of a site, and how to design clear and effective maps for clients and community organizations. Explore the power of thinking in systems, and how to apply ecological system-centered designs.
*Module 2 can only be taken as part of the Full Certificate Program
Module 3 – Soil & Animals
COURSE WILL COVER:
BUILDING SOIL & CARBON
- Soil Analysis. Learn the ecology behind regenerative theory of soil management. Gain skills in soil biology, chemistry, and structural analysis.
- Strategies for Soil Healing and Management. Examine regenerative soil strategies ranging from small urban settings to large-scale farming systems. Learn how to build and maintain healthy soils through techniques such as no-till, compost teas, ferments, crop covers, and biochar.
- Applied Learning. Take what is taught in class and apply it in the real world. Through class exercises and case studies, develop your own soil management plan.
LAND MANAGEMENT WITH ANIMALS & FIRE
- Integrating Animals into Ecological Systems. Learn how to design wildlife and domestic animals into systems for resilience and restoration.
- Practical Soil Management with Animals. Explore the role of animals in building soil, sequestering carbon, and improving ecological resilience.
- Perennial Systems Thinking: Integrate animals, perennial plants, and a systems approach to write your own holistic animal and perennial system design.
Module 4 – Food Forests & Forest Ecology
COURSE WILL COVER
DEVELOPMENT & CARE OF FORESTS
- Forest Ecology. Explore the intricacies of forest ecology, disturbance and succession, forest architecture, and fungal/bacterial relationships. Gain skills in reading and understanding your local forests.
- Applied Forestry Learn forest measurement, analysis and best management practices (BMP). Apply what you learn in class to your context, ranging from classic rural woodlands or complex urban forests.
- Forest Management Plans. Write a forest management plan using the concepts from class.
FOOD FORESTS & PERENNIAL SYSTEMS
- Designing and Building Food Forests. Learn how to approach food forest design, ranging from how to select cultivars to how to arrange your plants for beneficial relationships
- Management of Trees and Food Forests. Gain tools and techniques for food forest maintenance and care. Learn how to adapt food forest theory to a range of places and spaces.
- Building a Design. Building from what was discussed in class, design a food forest for your region and write a plan for management and maintenance.
Taking Your Permaculture Education Further
WATCH: “Taking Your Permaculture Education Further”
With Teachers: Starhawk, Charles Williams, Wanda Stewart, and Sunshine Rose Claymore
NOTE FROM STARHAWK
Permaculture Friends, thank you to the hundreds of you who joined us to discuss going further with your permaculture education in breadth and depth. We discussed:
- What’s beyond the standard course design?
- How do we offer more training and skill building?
- How do we reach and serve diverse communities?
We are grateful to everyone who came together to co-create community with us for this event.
*Recording is ASL interpreted for the Deaf community and includes closed captions.
YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY
- Recommended starter knowledge: Permaculture Design Certificate or previous experience in permaculture
- Next Steps: Regenerative Land Management Diploma
Deepen your study and practice of the science and strategies of
regenerative design for land and communities.
MEET Your Teachers
WHAT COMES NEXT
Are you ready for the next step in your learning journey?
Check out our Regenerative Land Management Diploma >>
FUNDING YOUR EDUCATION
We are dedicated to making this course work for you and offer a range of options for payment.
You can either take the entire course for an Advanced Permaculture Certificate, or individual modules for personal growth.
Payment Options
- Full Certificate Course. For students looking to get the most out of this course. You will get full access to all course materials and the ability to earn a certificate. Sliding scale tuition $1,250-$1600
- Individual Modules. Students looking to attend single modules or earn the certificate over multiple years. Sliding scale tuition $350-$450
- Early Bird Discounts: Register one month before a course/module and get 20% off.
- Alumni. For those who want a refresher. You must have taken this course with us before ($100/module).
- Payment Plan. Pay $100 at registration, followed by $100/month for the balance at the Standard Tuition rate.
- Diversity scholarships. Available for Indigenous and People of Color working or wanting to work in environmental or social justice.
- Group Discounts. For those who are for coming as a group of two or more people.
Every Abundant Tuition helps support a Diversity Scholarship.
All prices are per session prices and in US dollars
Full Certificate
- Early Bird tuition: $1,120
- Sliding Scale tuition: $1250-$1600
- Payment plans: $100 at registration with 14 monthly payments of $100
- Alumni tuition: $350 to retake this course
- All amounts are in US dollars.
Individual Modules
- Earlybird tuition: $320 / Module
- Module tuition: $350-$450
- Payment plans: $100 at registration with 3 monthly payments of $100
- Alumni tuition: $100 to retake this course
- All amounts are in US dollars.
DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS
- Earth Activist Training is committed to increasing the diversity of global permaculture and regenerative land movements.
- We recognize the history of this land called the United States and Canada and seek to do what we can to rectify the deep injustices and systems of inequity that formed and continue to shape society today.
Supported by your donations, a select number of pay-what-you-can Diversity Scholarships are available for Indigenous People and People of Color working for environmental or social justice. - These scholarships are pay-what-you-can with the recommended value of 50% of standard tuition ($200), but any amount will be accepted and appreciated.
GROUP DISCOUNTS
- Groups of 2-5 people- Discount of $280 off each ($1,120 total per person)
- Cohort of 6-10 people- Discount of $350 off each ($1050 total per person)
- Must indicate who is in your group at registration
OUR NETWORK
A core component of this course – and every Earth Activist Training course – is our private forum: Earth Activist Training Online network. This platform is where you will find course resources, your homework, and a network to connect with classmates and other Earth Activist students.
Recordings of each class will be available to you as a resource. You will have access to the course for a year after the course ends should you want to deepen your understanding of the material.
Register
(If you have trouble registering on a mobile phone, please try a computer)
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