Create a meaningful livelihood restoring land and revitalizing community.
Our new long-term program is designed as a path for you to develop and activate the skills, experience and confidence needed to run a farm, ranch, retreat center or urban farm in ways that heal damaged ecosystems and sequester carbon.
Why?
Regenerative Farmers are the new earth healers! To prevent global catastrophe due to climate change, we need to both stop emitting carbon, and pull it out of the atmosphere. The best way to do that is by regenerating living systems, using trees and plants to change that carbon into wood and food and humus and soil. This is exactly what permaculture farms are designed to do!
Join twenty year permaculture teacher Starhawk & long time co-educator Charles Williams for this comprehensive & transformational new two year Regenerative Land Management Diploma Program! Advance your permaculture skills as you learn how to manage life giving systems. We are proud to offer this RLM Diploma in partnership with the Permaculture Institute of North America.
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 we get that land into the hands of those who know how to manage it in ways that contribute to global healing!!
We’ve designed this program to advance your permaculture practice and provide you with the deep and comprehensive training needed to apply these regenerative skills in your life! Whether caring for the land, building urban gardens, or decolonizing the farmlands of America, the RLM Diploma will fully prepare you to take on any Regenerative Land Management project successfully!
Who is this for?
- This program is for you if:
- You already have achieved a Permaculture Design Certificate.*
- You have a great desire to live a meaningful life regenerating land and community.
- You want to build a successful farm, ranch, urban farm or retreat space.
- You like working outdoors and putting your philosophies and ideas into action.
- You are a young person starting out and want a fulfilling life path.
- You are retiring or changing careers in mid-life and want a new direction.
- You are shifting careers and long for more immersion in nature.
- You want to work in urban communities providing good-quality food, nature connection and revitalization.
- You have land and want to manage it regeneratively.
- You want to extend and deepen your knowledge and skills at carbon farming.
- You want to make a positive impact on climate change.
How the Program Works:
The RLM program is designed to take two years, and to include a mixture of instruction, experience, hands-on learning and community building. Due to Covid-19, our 2021/2022 instruction will be online. We are hopeful that by Year Two, we will be able to host an in-person course or possibly a regenerative land management work weekend.
Each student will complete a series of courses offered by Earth Activist Training, online or in person. You will also gain practical experience through internships and/or paid work. You’ll have an Advisor to guide you and to help you document your new learning and prior experience. In the first six-month intensive, you’ll complete a comprehensive farm plan/land design, and by the end of the two years, you’ll have done two more regenerative land designs in order to fulfill the requirements for your PINA Diploma. You’ll have access to Earth Activist Training’s ever-growing roster of potential sites for internships, paid work experience and land access, as well as to an online network of current and former students, and support from our teachers and staff.
Prerequisite: A Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC).
*If you don’t have a PDC and want to join our RLM Advanced Permaculture Diploma Program, you can begin by taking a Permaculture Design Certificate training with us – our next cohort begins July 2021. Check our schedule page for dates.
YEAR 1 | RLM Diploma
Our Core Intensive dives deep into all the key aspects of regenerative land management, with opportunities for you to apply your knowledge in an actual design.
Each month we will cover a new topic, with class presentations, supplementary readings, videos and exercises. On week one, we’ll delve into the theory and science of a particular topic. On week two, we’ll apply what we’ve learned to an actual case study, and guide you in your own planning and design. Week three will be for questions, discussion, feedback and group critique. By the end of the course, you will have created a comprehensive farm plan or land design for your portfolio. Our courses always include grounding in spirit and personal resilience, and a focus on organizing and activism.
4 WEEK MODEL for 6 Months 3 Live Sessions and then the final week OFF
- Week 1: Lecture giving monthly theory & science
- Week 2: Apply theory to a case study
- Week 3: Discussion, feedback & group critique
- Week 4: Time to integrate, read, view materials, and work on your own designs and practical projects.
LIVE SESSIONS : 6 MONTH RLM Core Intensive
March – September 2021 | Wednesdays 6:00-8:00 pm PST / 9:00-11:00 pm EST
*Recordings will be available for those who cannot join live sessions.
- March 31- 4/7- 4/18 | 4/21 OFF
- April 28- 5/5- 5/12 | 5/19 OFF
- May 26- 6/2- 6/9 | 6/16 OFF
- June 23- 6/30- 7/7 | 7/14 OFF
- July 21-7/28- 8/4 | 8/11 OFF
- August 18 – 8/25 – 9/1 | 9/8 Bonus Closing Session
Online Monthly Format:
6 months, meeting in 3 live two-hour sessions per month, with additional readings, viewing of supplemental material, design and planning time
In addition to our 18 Live Sessions with Starhawk & Charles Williams, students will receive
- Private RLM Community within Earth Activists Online
- Intimate support groups led by a Teaching Assistant
- Ongoing Student & Teacher Feedback
- Advanced Permaculture Skills & Design Application
- Applied Practicum & Theory
YEAR 1 | RLM Diploma
Enrolled students will experience the following in their first year:
March – September 2021: 6 Month Core Intensive Online*
- March 31st – Welcome to Class Gathering & Orientation
- 6 Month -3 Class on, 1 off- format begins March 2021
Fall 2021: Students will attend this additional included course
- Social Permaculture Online Course with Starhawk
Throughout the year, Students will experience:
- Monthly Support from your RLM Coordinator
- Launch of Internships and Mentorships
- Design Portfolio Creation, Review & Revision
- PINA Field Advisor Sessions
YEAR 2 | RLM Diploma
**Final Dates, Details & Cost TBD as subject to change due to Pandemic
Enrolled students will experience the following in their second year:
3 Smaller Online courses
Regenerative Business Design (8 weeks) which will focus on the business and financial skills you need to build a successful regenerative business.
Permaculture Infrastructure: An overview of alternative energy systems, waste management, natural building and farm and small-scale renewable energy systems.
Planning for Emergencies and Natural Disasters: How do we plan for, respond to and mitigate natural disasters? What are the organizing skills we need in order to create community-wide responses?
*IN ADDITION*
You’ll take a 10-day in-person Restoration Intensive. We hope and pray that by 2022 we’ll be able to offer this as a live training. If not, we will offer it as soon as we are able. In this intensive, we’ll have a chance to put into practice many of the theoretical skills and principles we have learned. We’ll put some energy and expertise into land and community that needs it, and organize a Community Action Day.
Throughout the year, Students will experience:
- Monthly Support from your RLM Coordinator
- Continued Internships and Mentorships
- Final Portfolio Submission + Review
- PINA Field Advisor Sessions 4x / year
Projected Curriculum for Year 2 Intensive
- Financial planning
- Business practices and tools
- Review of internships and reports
- Land management plans
- Holistic management goal setting
- Grants and funding
- Integrative systems—silva-pasture, no-till, farming techniques
- Engaging annual systems and perennial systems
- Case studies
Read more about the Regenerative Land Management Diploma on our website.