school

Our students care. They care about the way the world is and how it will be. They care about what is happening to our planet. And they care about what they are going to do next.

Our students are ready to embrace a changing world. They share the desire to make a better life for themselves and those around them. They show  a keen interest in Permaculture Design and a willingness to learn more about it.

They are learning how to make small changes as they go about their daily business, changes that add up over the days and weeks. They are learning how to think clearly in spite of all the confusion that surrounds them. They are discovering their inner creativity.

Our students come from all age groups and a broad range of backgrounds and occupations. Many work in community projects (often unpaid) and some run their own business, or would like to start one. It is difficult to recognise them as "students" - they wear no uniforms., there is no selection process and no "monitoring".

They care, so we care. We strive to make our courses accessible and affordable, as far as we can do so without external support. Our courses are designed to be modular and there are a variety of formats to suit your needs.

What do our students do?

Our graduates are often exceptionally busy people, engaging in all manner of projects to help secure our common future. 

A few of them are on a pathway to recognition of their skills through the diploma in permaculture design and are helping to build the Permaculture Institute in North Britain.

Another precious few are engaged in teaching apprentices with the school.

The best way to find out more is to read about  their activities by reading at our news in our house journal Northern Edge.

Our guild has links to other guilds and organisations who acknowledge the power of "open source" working:

Permaculture Research Institute - the PRI is pre-eminent coherent authority on world-wide Permaculture. The PRI has accredited our Permaculture Design Certificate course (PDC) and we are seeking closer working relations with them

Permaculture Institute of North Britain  - a guild of design practitioners that regulates the Northern School

CommEnt CIC - a community interest company based in the North West of England. A supporter of our School and the North Britain Institute.

The School for Sustainable Living - a collective demonstrating sustainable livelihoods in the Central  Pennine region.

Rob Squires  of Creative Local solutions and Treegeneration fame.

Permaculture in Mauritius  - projects and co-operatives from our associates in the Indian Ocean

Daniel Halsey - holds a key role at South Woods Permaculture in Minnestota USA and board director of the PRI/USA.

Peppi Gauchi (Malta and Iberia) - originator of the key permaculture mediterranian drylands project "Bahrija Oasis"

Permaculture Association (Britain) - we are members of this charity promoting permaculture in the UK

Open Money - Michael Linton's gift to the world of money.

Our education policy is based on observation and experience. We believe that the foundations of a good education system are built from the following list:

Three main characteristics

•  all those who want to learn are provided with access to available resources, at any time in their lives
•  all those who want to share what they know are empowered to find those that want to learn from them
•  all those who want to present an issue to the public are furnished with the opportunity to make their challenge known.  

Four key elements

• things (places, objects, books, videos)
• patterns (skills, concepts, models)
• peers (collaborators in learning)
• elders (teachers and learning guides).  

Services and competences

Services that help learners to learn:

• a reference service for educational objects - that facilitates access to things, places or processes used for learning
• a skills exchange that matches people wanting to learn with those willing to help them
• peer matching - a communication network for people wishing to find others with similar learning objectives
• a reference service to educators-at-large. 

Three types of educational competence - the ability to:

• create and operate exchanges and networks
• guide students in the use of learning networks and resources
• act as guides in difficult, or complex, intellectual journeys. 

A good education system will also use convivial tools.

Based on De-Schooling Society, Ivan Illich, Chapter 6: "Learning Webs" . 
Edited version of a document from the archives of the Permaculture Association (Britain) and the Permaculture Academy (UK) circa 2000; editor Angus Soutar.

Our main purpose at the Northern School is to provide quality training and effective propagation of Permaculture Design. When you come on our courses, we aim to provide you with the necessary skills in a flexible way:

• a focus on creative thinking and problem-solving (no technical background required) 
• teaching from skilled design practitioners experienced tutors who are ready to provide you with advice and guidance to help with your own projects 
• straightforward "northern" hospitality 
• no compulsory activities - "opt outs" always available and there's no written "homework"  (we have freedom from State-sponsored Education) 
• continuous access to a library of on-line handouts together with materials on removable media
• discounts on permaculture books (including "Permaculture: A Designers' Manual") and related items 
• no "missing out" - access to modules on our other design courses 
• flexible and affordable payment terms

You can read more about our Education and Training Policy.

Here are some comments from previous participants in the permaculture design course, after receiving their completion certificates. (For video feedback, go here).

"Fantastic, thank you for an excellent fun and informative 6 months. Right, I'm off to do some observation and experimentation now."   Colin           

"I have learned so much, and I know that this is only the end of the beginning!" - Sarah        

"I had a wonderful time - and I learned something, too!" - Ana      

"Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge in such an entertaining way."  -  Martin

From the permaculture design course at Oldtown, Hebden Bridge 

"Thank you for the learning experience I wish I had received at school and for the most amazing start to a journey that I know I will be on for the rest of my life. Thank you Permaculture and thank you Angus." - Emma Leaf-Grimshaw (Bolton 2011)

The Northern School of Permaculture provides training and professional development services to build skills in productive, functional design. We take a holistic and ecological approach to design, based on the work of Bill Mollison and his Australian colleagues.

The Northern School is not a building. Nor is it confined to any particular territory, although our experience is mainly in a cool-temperate, partly urbanised, environment. We are a group of visiting trainers who share a "no-nonsense" approach to permaculture, with our courses firmly based on our experience and practice as designers. Our Principal and lead trainer is Angus Soutar who is accredited internationally by the Permaculture Research Institute.

Our students have many interests and come from a diversity of backgrounds. They are champions of community resilience, energy transition, the health of people and the well-being of society. We will work with any community that wants to repair the landscape around them and gain a peaceful future for themselves and their children.   

The Northern School of  Permaculture is an open-source guild  and we encourage participation from many individuals and enterprises. If you are new to us, please use this site to find out more about our programmes.

You may find out more about our ethos and our approach by reading through our policy statements.