Permaculture Design Certification Course - Spring and Fall

The Permaculture Design Course: A Systems Approach to Holistic, Sustainable Design

The PPG Permaculture Design Course: Designed for the Urban Dweller and beyond

Permaculture is a way of thinking as well as a system of organizing intelligent ecological and ethical design. It does not focus on the elements of sustainability in themselves, for example the details of organic living, eco-building, appropriate technology, community building, green finance, or rainwater harvesting, but on the beneficial relationships between these elements. Further focusing on how they are put together to make them as energy efficient and sustaining as possible, for people, the planet and our ecosystem.

Permaculture (Permanent Culture) enhances our observation and understanding of natural patterns and universal principles. It teaches us to contemplate nature and natural systems and then to apply these ecological truisms to our own living environments. (Definition partially excerpted from the Permaculture UK magazine editorial by Maddy Harland).

All this and more will be taught and learned during the PPG Permaculture Design Course (PDC) this Spring here in Phoenix. The course will be held mostly three weeks apart, beginning Saturday and Sunday, January 30/31. Subsequent weekends are February 20/21, March 13/14 and March 27/28 (note 2 week gap, due to Easter). The final presentation day is April 17 From the course you will build an understanding of holistic sustainable design that you can apply to your own space as well as the community.

Students will be required to complete the course 72 hours of in-class instruction, course enhancing homework and 12 hours of hands-on instruction. Any Classes (or portions) missed due to extenuating circumstances will have to be made up. Some classes will be intense others relaxed, but all will be rewarding, just ask a previous student. The Phoenix Permaculture Guild and its numerous teachers have kept the cost as low as possible, while creating a innovative, versatile program. Four primary home sites will be hosts for each of the weekend classes, plus other arranged tours.

Your experience will go beyond the classroom, as you develop your design project and community along the way. Each topic and weekend is designed to build each upon the other, so that by the end of the course you will have all you need to create a Integrated Permaculture Design. Note Once the course is begun the registration is closed. Sign up today!

Don Titmus - PPG PDC organizer
fdpc@4dirs.com

Phoenix Permaculture Guild Teachers and Experts in Alphabetical Order

Karen Bauernschmidt received her PDC certificate in Spring 2009. A former pediatric nurse practitioner, she practiced permaculture for four years at Outdoor University of Reforestation. She loved nature from childhood, delighting particularly in climbing trees and in getting to the red raspberries at woods' edge before the birds. Her fifteen minutes of fame came in her 2005 tree-sitting event at Metro Center Mall in protest of the unnecessary removal of 340, 35-year-old healthy trees. Her favorite books include The Secret Life of Plants [Tompkins/Bird], Secrets of the Soil [Thompkins/Bird], The Ion Effect [Fred Soyka], Lights Out [John Ott], Gaviotas [Alan Weisman], Cosmic Octave [Cousto], and of course Mollison's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual.

Anne Goldfeld is a homeschooling mom, community activist, and director of Resources for Health, a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower individuals and families to care for their health, the environment, and their communities. She has led the organization’s Roots & Shoots youth service-learning group for seven years. With a number of other PDC grads, she helped create Arizona Homegrown Solutions (www.azhomegrownsolutions.org), “having fun growing food and community.” Anne holds Master Degrees in social work and public health and completed the PDC in 2008. She is actively involved with several community gardening projects and rainwater harvesting demonstrations and is passionate about putting permaculture in action in service to the community.

Jacob Goldfeld is 11 years old and completed the Guild’s PDC in fall 2008 as the youngest graduate yet. Together with his family, he has been caring for the environment, caring for people, and sharing the surplus since he was a toddler. He is a youth leader of the Resources for Health Roots & Shoots group (www.resourcesforhealth.org) and is actively involved with sustainable gardening at Scottsdale Community Garden Club and at North Mountain Visitor Center in Phoenix. In 2008 Jacob co-taught a class on prickly pear harvesting and preparation, volunteered at the annual mesquite milling, and participated in several citrus gleanings, among other projects. Jacob received the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award for 2008.

Jay Johnson is a freelance designer, consultant and educator on permaculture systems and edible landscapes. His passion and life's work is to create environmentally stable societies, in both urban and natural areas. Specializing in sustainable agriculture, ethnobotany and environmental restoration, he has assisted organizations as varied as the National Park Service, International WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) and the City of Phoenix Parks & Rec. Dept. Notable projects around the Valley include the Urban Farm Gardens, Happy Dirt Veggie Patch - Farm at South Mountain, City of Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Area and the Baron Edible Landscape Project in Scottsdale. He is cofounder of the Phoenix Permaculture Guild and was previously an owner-member of the Pierson Street Eco-Village in Phoenix. He currently resides in Tempe.

Terri Larsen-Shifman has been involved in Permaculture since the late 1970s. In 1979 she lived in a tent on an organic farm in the Caribbean for two years, living off the land. This is where she first learned about rainwater harvesting, permaculture, and organic farming.

Her work career has been varied and exciting. Currently she DJ's, does live events with her event business, Mystic Mountain Events, is one of the Managing Partners in Green Element Design Group, LLC, and Secretary / Treasurer of Mystic Mountain Development, Inc. Terri also presently owns and runs a 43 acre organic farm on the Caribbean island of Dominica, and has done much there to promote organics to local farmers. Partially due to her conscious-raising efforts with the government there, Dominica, an agricultural society, has made it a mandate to be 100% organic by 2010. She and her husband, Peter, are presently working on the development of an eco-tourism site on a separate 10 acre site there.

Terri moved to Arizona in 1996, and built her first "green" home in 1998. Since then she has done green design and remodeling for her own projects, through Mystic Mountain Development, Inc., and is presently designing a fully permaculture-designed, "green" home on ten acres of land near Winkleman, Arizona.

Terri's constant concern for the earth inspired her to become a Permaculture Design instructor in 2007. When she realized that Permaculture was the name given to something she had been doing her whole life, and that there was a certification process for Design, she decided to get certified to be able to share her knowledge with others. In late 2007 she formed Green Element Design Group, LLC. offering Green Building consulting and Permaculture Design here in Arizona. You can learn more about them at www.greenelementdg.com

Jo Miller is the Environmental Program Manager for the city of Glendale, where she maintains a comprehensive and innovative public education and outreach program. Jo manages the award winning Xeriscape Demonstration garden at the Glendale Main Library. The project won a Governor’s Pride Award in Water Conservation in 2004. Prior to working for the City of Glendale, Jo owned and managed a landscape design business for 19 years. Her business provided a permaculture assessment for the Phoenix Zoo that lead to several demonstration water harvesting installations at the Zoo’s Harmony Farm site. She received certification in basic and advanced permaculture and was a teacher/mentor for Prescott College providing instruction in permaculture to undergraduate students.

She is the co-author of Earth-Friendly Desert Gardening, a book published by the Master Gardener Press. The book received the 2003 Communication Award and a 2005 Arizona Glyph award for best gardening book. One of her greatest joys in life is pretending that she is tending her garden.

Education/training: B.S. in Education from Ohio State University, Advanced certification in Permaculture Design, Certified Project WET facilitator, Master Gardener

Greg Peterson graduated from his Permaculture Design course in 1991 and has practiced Permaculture Design principles on his property, The Urban Farm, since then. Greg offers programs through the Urban Farm to teach people about urban sustainability, urban resource use and Permaculture. Additionally the Urban Farm offers Permaculture consulting services, where along with the team of designers and installers can create desert appropriate landscapes that address all aspects of your living space. Greg is also available for speaking engagements on topics such as urban sustainability, fruit trees, permaculture and edible landscaping.

Greg holds a Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies from ASU, specializing in Environmental Studies and plans to Graduate with a Masters in Environmental Planning in May 2006. His school work has revolved around urban resource reuse and implementing strategies of urban food production.

Suean Stewart is the Program Director for Agribusiness and Urban Horticultural at Mesa Community College and is also a student at ASU. She completed her PDC in the fall of 2006. Her expertise is in plant propagation and emphasizing REUSE over recycle. She's helped to install a wide array of greywater and passive cooling systems, while maintaining the soil and gardens as well. Suean gladly shares her knowledge and passion for stacking functions and gardening whenever and wherever needed, having assisted with gardens in Central Phoenix, the South Mountain area, and the East Valley. Having previously taught various sessions of the PDC, Suean has completed a PC Teacher Training, assisted in water harvesting, Site Analysis, native edibles, and fruit tree classes.

Don Titmus has lived and worked in the east Phoenix area since 1981. Prior to that he lived near London, England. It was here he received his education in Horticulture. Three year apprentiship, starting in 1975 with college certificates in basic hort. Then a full year for a National Cert in Hort – Landscaping. Upon arrival in the U.S. he worked for a landscape company for 12 yrs. Then in 1993 started his own business in garden maintenance. So Don has over 30 years experience in the horticultural field.

Don attended his PC Design Course with Scott Pittman and Larry Santoyo at Ecoversity, Santa Fe, NM during the summer of 2003. Then one year later attended the PC Teacher Training with Jude Hobbs and Tom Ward in OR. Then in 2008 attended a second PC Teacher Training in Big Sur, CA with Ben Fahrer and Kat Steele. Don is also one of the founding members of the Phx. Permaculture Guild, holds an Advisory position, and currently is the PC course facilitator and teaches the core of the Guilds PDC Classes.

Additionally Don has taught Massage, Reiki, Dancing and Camping skills. Facilitated "Rainbow Lodge" ceremonies for many, including David Dibble’s Four Agreements in the Workplace and as a minister he has conducted weddings, held ceremonies, and drumming circles. Don is now working towards a full time role in permaculture – teaching, consultation and design, with his PC business, Four Directions PermaCulture (see http://www.4dirs.com/fdpc ). Don recently took his love of dancing and music to become a DJ, a Conscious Dance DJ [ DJ PermieDon] - "Peace"

Don’s home is truly becoming a reflection of "Walking his Talk", he has create the "Bee Oasis" [as an Intentional community] at his Mesa home, demonstrating sustainability, holds classes, grows food/community and he lives from the Earth and holds a deep respect for all on it.

David Wells, a native of Southern California, has lived in Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Jersey and Phoenix.

David’s first college degree was a BFA in Graphic Design and Communication. After stints in ad agencies and design firms, he landed in a TV station doing news graphics and marketing. This led to a vagabond lifestyle that lasted twenty years, as he and his wife followed television station opportunities around the country. His final broadcast stint was Art Director for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, where he learned the art of animated mapmaking.

In 2003 he left NBC and moved to Phoenix, where his son and grandchildren lived, and began a second career as a graphics consultant, teaching animated GIS mapmaking to hundreds of artists across the continent. He also designed maps for on-air use by several TV stations and programs, including the History Channel and all the major networks.

While in Phoenix, David started taking classes at several local colleges, trying to find the perfect third career. After delving into human geography, public relations, sustainability and city planning, he landed in the Urban and Environmental Planning program at ASU, where he is currently writing his Master’s Thesis. He is also pens a monthly energy-awareness column for Natural Awakenings magazine, entitled: "Are You Green Enough?" – providing user-friendly insights into the pros and cons of attic insulation, rechargeable batteries, window tinting and much more.

In 2008, David and two partners began a new "Green Energy" company, to apply some of the sensible and holistic knowledge each had obtained in their respective fields of alternative energy, law, engineering, marketing and energy conservation. It is known simply as "ONE SOLAR." OneSolar’s goal is to help homeowners understand – through diagnostic testing and education – how their home is performing, and assist them in developing a realistic, step-by-step plan to reduce their energy consumption and make the transition to renewable energy sources, with the ultimate goal of energy independence.

Ryan Wood is a spring 2008 PDC graduate with an Associates of Applied Technology Degree from ITT. He has a background in architecture and landscape design and is currently working as a graphic/web designer. "The earthworks and water harvesting section of the PDC is something I truly love" says Ryan, and he has focused a lot of time learning and applying the techniques at his home and at other work share activities. Ryan has further expanded his water education by attending water harvesting classes and workshops instructed by Arizona's own rainwater/greywater pioneer, Brad Lancaster. Along with his passion for water, Ryan also enjoys creating useable landscape features out of simple supplies and discarded items that would otherwise be headed for the landfill.