Design course in 10 days - content

This programme  applies to both the "Design course over five weekends"  and the "Design course in 10 days (intensive)" formats.

Day 1 – Introduction to the course

Introductions – personal (geographical), course outline -  The Parable of the chicken, Lessons from the chicken – what is a system? - inputs and outputs – work and pollution – cycling– polycultures – design cycle O-A-D-I - Observation walk and debrief - Ethics of Permaculture - Characteristics of natural systems - Permaculture defined - How the course participants will be organised: allocation of tasks, issues, questions.

Day 2 -  Introduction to Permaculture

Recap – ethics and action through design ,the parable of the chicken and the introduction to systems– monoculture to polycultures and the importance of gardening - Design cycle (O-A-D-I) - site analysis and placement, work and materials flow - site analysis with classic homestead pattern,  permaculture zoning - Our creation story: the basic elements of life, the universe (and everything) - Water, Carbon and the basics of life: hydrocarbons and carbohydrates, combustion and respiration, storage and release of solar energy in Nature - Basic ecology: trophic levels, succession - Course organisation: review

Day 3 - Water is essential for life

Water: open structure, pH,  dissolved salts,  salting, dissolved gasses, buffering, acid rain  - Systems and Design: elements(1) / relationships (2) /functions (3) - Design cycle: BREDIM - Design tools: Relative Permanence - Observation and Pattern: observation walk/exercise - Site analysis – sector analysis - permaculture design defined part 1 - Water for energy and transportation: density effects, "living water", Schauberger and implosion power.

Day 4 - Climate and landscape  -

Recap: design directives – one function served by many elements - Design for risks and events - - Systems and energy: open and closed systems, the efficiency of natural processes , “exergy” and “lethargy” - Design objectives and directives - Limiting factors in design - Climate: world climate zones and climate pattern,  weather systems

Water in the Landscape – swales, dam sites,  keyline planning- sandpit demonstration (include demonstrations of patterns of entropy and critical state) - The water cycle and Kravcik's work - Classic landscape profile – choosing sites for construction and buildings - Uses of water – sources, sinks and stores - Swales and water harvesting - Terracing - Salting in drylands - Natural wastewater treatment - Cultivating in climate zones, creating microclimate - Systems: emergence, growth and feedback loops, purpose and function - Ponds and lakes - Aquaculture 1 – systems, chinampas, ecological aquaculture.

Day 5 - Life in soil 

Recap + Soil introduction - Nutrients in soil -  Design and systems – yields, elements, functions and events - Design cycle:  BREDIM - Design tools  Relative Permanence - Agriculture, horticulture and soil - Soil building in nature -  Soil structure (1) - Soil as a growing medium - Soil  classification and soil testing  -  Soil structure (2) - Soil structure and edge - The nitrogen cycle in soils - Soil as a building material - Permaculture design defined part 2  - Polycultures, plant guilds, interaction matrix

Day 6 - Soils and cultivation

Design methods:  random assembly  Working at scale - Life in soils:  pulsing, ethylene, ferrous/ferric switch - Soil building in zones 1 and 2 (composts, fertilisers and mulches) - - Polycultures in zones 1 and 2 - Permaculture design defined part 3: material and conceptual components - Observation exercise: Spirals, Pattern  - Polycultures in Zone 3 – Rangelands, Holistic Management - Polycultures in Zone 3  - Cereal growing - A sense of place – bioregions and social zoning.

Day 7 - Forests, aquaculture and social change 

Aquaculture 2 - fish farming and aquaponics - Trees and forests:energy transactions - - The client and the brief – how to get more done - Design as a system - Design project – project selection and brief -  summary of design methods

Branching patterns - Forest gardens - Patterns: succession and stacking - Woodland management and composting Jean Pain, Hugel mounds - Pattern:Edge and how to use it, using niche - Teamwork observed - Patterns of Association 

Day 8 - Settlement scales and sizes 

Village life: patterns of a settled society, basic needs,  providing for community needs, questions of scale - “Wealth” and Right Livelihood-: what is wealth? , right livelihood-, hints and tips "from the front line"-, creating linkages, beneficial relationship - Communal organisation:  â€śpatterns of governance”, tribal societies - civilisation and the city: complex societies , cultural evolutions, alternative nations - Useful patterns of organisation and business.

Day 9 - Design and transformation Design presentations - “Community trading” and “community money” - Community economics and firms - Systems: Non-linearity in nature and society – “expect the unexpected” - Designing aid programmes effectively

Day 10 - Conclusions 

Patterns of patterns:  a summary of the different types of patterns in nature-,a general model? - Certificates - Feedback - What's next?  Diploma programmes – participants' projects - local and global networks